“You are free to throw snowballs at this window,” the signs say in the
Kadikoy district on the Asian side of Istanbul, and not because the
shopkeepers here love the sound of breaking glass.
Read more: In Turkey, Even Snow Can Be Tainted by Politics - NYTimes.com
It is all about a freak snowstorm, a quick temper, a deadly encounter and — inevitably — politics.
A
two-day blizzard had dropped 24 inches of snow on Istanbul before it
finally let up on Thursday, catching off guard a city of 14 million that
rarely gets more than a short-lived dusting.
Traffic
and transport ground to a halt. Trees fell and blocked roads. Schools
and businesses shut down, leaving the people of the city free to pour
outdoors in search of snowy fun.
Some
took to the hilly back streets on makeshift sleds made of brooms, trash
bags and sheet plastic. Some built Turkish-style snowmen with fezzes on
their heads and red peppers for noses. And some filled buckets with
hand-packed snowballs, in preparation for the friendly neighborhood
free-for-alls they knew would soon erupt.
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