04.07.2026 17:51
The Sahaflar Bazaar in Istanbul's Üsküdar district was submerged due to a thunderstorm, rendering hundreds of books unusable. Shopkeepers reacted, stating, "We notified Üsküdar Municipality multiple times. By the time they arrived, the water in the bazaar had risen over 1 meter. Very valuable works were submerged and became trash."
Hundreds of books were damaged in the Sahaflar Bazaar in Üsküdar, where flooding occurred due to thunderstorms that were effective in some districts of Istanbul.
WATER LEVEL REACHED UP TO ONE METER The heavy rainfall, which showed its effect in some parts of the city, brought floods along with it. The Sahaflar Bazaar in Üsküdar was also submerged. The water level reached up to one meter, and many books on the shelves were soaked and damaged due to rainwater filling the workplaces.
While shopkeepers struggled to drain the water flooding their stores with their own means, they also tried to save the books. Upon notification, fire crews arriving at the scene evacuated the rainwater from the bazaar using a vacuum truck.
"WE HAVE A LOT OF DAMAGE" Bayram Koç, a second-hand bookseller in the bazaar, said they tried to protect the shop from the moment the rain started but were unsuccessful. Stating that the water coming down the stairs to their shop due to the intensity of the rain was not drained by the grate, Koç said, "The inside of the shop filled up to waist level within half an hour. 50% of our books inside were damaged. The books we will discard are in the square; we are cleaning up. We were quite saddened because we had many select books; we have a lot of damage."
"TEAMS CAME ALMOST 2 HOURS LATER" Bookseller Yaşar Yeşil also said, "We called the municipality, ISKI, and the fire department but could not get an answer. Then we reached them; they came almost two hours later, and by the time they arrived, it was too late. Everything was flooded up to our waists." Stating that everything in the shop was underwater, Yeşil added, "The fire department came later with a vacuum truck, but there is considerable damage and loss. We are throwing out our soaked books. It really is a very sad situation."
Shopkeeper Nihat Yalçın also stated that the water rose up to one meter, and although they had managed to survive similar floods cheaply before, this time they had extensive damage.
"A CULTURAL TREASURE WAS SUBMERGED TODAY" Bookseller Ali Karabeyeser, drawing attention to the severity of their grievances, said, "The works suffered very serious damage. The late and insufficient intervention caused hardship. There is significant damage to the books; a cultural treasure was submerged today. We had made verbal applications regarding the possibility of this problem before, inspections were carried out, but no solution was produced."
"WHEN THEY ARRIVED, THE WATER HAD RISEN MORE THAN 1 METER" In another statement, Karabeyeser said, "With the rain starting in the morning, the water in the square flowed into the bazaar, and the bazaar was flooded. As soon as the rain began, we informed the Üsküdar Municipality and ISKI. We could not reach ISKI. Multiple notifications were made to Üsküdar Municipality. When they arrived, the water in the bazaar had easily risen above 1 meter. The shops were submerged up to waist height. The front of the bazaar was the same. They only came to drain the water. This is not an intervention; an intervention is when you act and produce a solution as the problem first arises. After the event is over, you come to the scene and only try to salvage the existing situation. The majority of the collections of 7 shops here have turned into waste. There is great hardship. Many valuable works remained underwater and became trash. Despite our repeated requests on this matter, no precautions were taken by either the Metropolitan Municipality, the main responsible for the square, or the local administration. In the end, we experienced such a great disaster."
"REPORTED MULTIPLE TIMES, NO PRECAUTIONS WERE TAKEN" The shopkeepers of the Sahaflar Bazaar, stating that similar problems occur in the area during rainy weather, claimed that they had reported the situation to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) and Üsküdar Municipality multiple times, but the necessary precautions were not taken.
Source: AA, DHA