Reading the papers, Turks now know that the heart of the foreign currency exchange rates beats at Tahtakale. The public thinks that the men who deal -with mobile phones and walkie-talkies- in this tiny alley at one of the gates of the Grand Bazaar near Mahmutpaşa must be stinking rich. However, their story is quite different. Yes, the system works without any problems, but the dollar dealers of the Grand Bazaar are not happy int the least.
To tell you the truth, I was a slightly worried on my way to the Tahtakale exchange market of the Grand Bazaar, as I was told that it's totally a men's world out there. I was thinking that they would all be on edge because of the nature of their work, playing with millions of dollars in a day. Soon after I arrived, I saw that I was justified in my worries.
There was an incredible chaos in the narrow alley. People were shouting at each other and were talking on the phone and and walkie- talkies in Turkish, but I could attach no meaning to their conversations. Figures were being spelt out loud meant nothing to me, and the rush never seemed to end. It was all double Dutch to me.
My period of obnoxious observation did not last very long. A few dealers who thought that I was there to exchange some dollars approached me immediately: How many dollars would I exchange; did I want to buy or sell dollars. They said immediately that the 'operations' via telephone were generally not less than 100,000 dollars, but they would change 2.000 dollars since I had gone there myself; but 100, 200 or 500 dollars was just not speakable. I told them I have'nt come here for an exchange. Despite constant talk about currency I had not yet seen a single banknote.I was now surrounded by a mob of dealers wondering what a young girl like me was doing there. And so I explained: I was a journalist and I was there simply because I was curious. This brief explanation made them even more curious.
I was standing in front of the narrow alley where the fiercest deals take place and was yearning to go in. I asked one of the dealers surrounding me. His answer was very clear: "You may enter, but better if you don't." According to him the dealers in there had to concentrate and wouldn't want anybody under their feet. "And" he added, "especially seeing as you are a young woman!" Nodding their heads, others confirmed this comment. I took their advice and stayed where I was.
May be not as much as an oasis, being the only woman in this world of men, I was now the center of attraction. This however soon prooved to be an advantage. The dealers, even at the cost of loosing their concentration were all willing to talk to me. Meanwhile I learnt that they had their own codes for almost anything that had something to do with the market: Dollar was named 'tam' meaning perfect, and German mark 'çeyrek' meaning a quarter. A man who seemed to have a position of authority among all the dealers surrounding me tell the story of the place. According to him this "film" started back in the 1980's during the ex-

president Turgut Özal's times. The others kept nodding their heads confirming his words.
He went on explaining: "With the transition to the free market economy at that time, demand and supply of foreign currency were determined in connection to the daily exchange rate of the Central Bank. At that time dealers here would transfer large sums of foreign currency and could fluctuate the exchange rates by selling expensively to the banks. Foreign currency was very volatile and the transfer rate from the previous day

was also important, contrary to the absolute Central Bank control system which no longer is valid." When the word came around to April 5th 1993 intervention on currency (devaluation), the film's flow changed. He carried on explaining: "The reason that Tahtakale earned too much after the resulting devaluation of the April 5 decisions, was low unemployment figures of those days. But after the last devaluation, Tahtakale made immense deficits due to the fact that they had trusted the Coalition Government. Nowadays, the ones losing their jobs or who are retiring are trying to sell and buy dollars here, but they are generally making deficits since they do not know the market very well." The other dealers around me approved this evaluation. They added in a chorus: "We have been working here for nearly 15 years, but nowadays we only recieve commission and no profits."
I no longer felt as a femela object surrounded by man. I was now just an outsider who is willing to listen to the problems of a disturbed crowd. They were all trying to add information to their friends interpretation of the 'film'.
According to them, Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz's comments on the army at the recently held Motherland Party Congress and armies outright rejection of these comments have further reduced the banks'confidence to the markets. The general belief held by Tahtakale is that the government will not be able to pay all the debts back and as they believe that the trust held for the politicians has already diminished, a new crisis during 2002 is now inevitable. Although the government forecasts that the Central Bank reserves will not be affected by the fluctuations in the dollar, and that tourism will provide enough revenues, Tahtakale does not believe that this will materialise and that the free floating exchange rate system will work and rate the measures as utopic. They also believe that the shift from this mistaken attitude will take place when one dollar equals 2 million liras.
At the 2 million threshold, the Central Bank will see that the current applications will never turn out to be a solution to the current problems and they'll change the system, say to the 'snake-in-the-tunnel' system which permits the exchange rate to fluctuate between a certain range, which will "calm" the markets.
Another prevalent belief is that even though the government changes, the election will only bring extra burdens to the economy. The decision to adjust the electricity and city gas prices according to the changes in the exchange rates is thought to be one of the important signs that the winter will be hard. Also they all share the idea that the tax registration procedure starting this month will cause the dollar, which cannot be seen in the system to continue diminishing with higher amounts, and that there'll be a run-away from the lira.
It seems that all the efforts, here at Tahtakale are to achieve the chance of the least an arbitrage opportunity. A single news on television or the slightest speculation by any of the actors economy is more than enough to confuse the Tahtakale market.
But the real actors are at the back stage: The dealers here receive instructions from their partners or bosses who are watching Reuters or TV in their shops located in the Grand Bazaar who recieve orders for currency from banks and businesses. However, the dealers who talked to me, all stressed that they were not making profits anymore. Especially after the crisis their deals no longer gave revenues; nowadays even the senior dealers are working only with a small commission to avoid risks. The system in Turkey has attained such a complex character that the only thing they can rely upon in this mess is common sense and solidarity. This in itsself they say, is enough to put them off their job which in the past was a passion.
The Tahtakale market provides foreign curency for many large firms. But banks are also acting as agents for the high demands of these firms. The reason that the people prefer Tahtakale to the banks is that they avoid formalities and also as the prices at Tahtakale are more advantageous.An average of 25 million dollars is transacted in Tahtakale daily. During days when business is low this figure drops down to near 10 million dollars. But on days when trade is booming transactions reach as high as 40 million dollars. Hearing these figures one should no longer be surprised that Tahtakale or Kapalıçarşı to be precise, determines the exchange rates.

The Tahtakale Market is open from 10:00 a.m. till 06:00 p.m. and the times when the transactions are at highest is between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. and at around 02:00 p.m.. There are no written rules or regulations running in the market. The dealers motto is "My word is my bond". Everything is built on mutual trust, the most important rule of any commerce. I guess, the nicest thing that they have achieved during all these years is this trust.
When I went to The Tahtakale market, I noticed that I could not have achieved the perception of the real economy of these dealers during the four years which I spent in Bogazici University's Economics Department: Finding this out lasted no longer than 5 minutes! If you ask my opinion, do not wait to till the next time you go to the Grand Bazaar; go straight there and spend some time to see the place which has a deterministic role in the markets and hear the heart beats of the real economy.