Tucked in a corner across from Istanbul’s Kariye museum is a haven for young Syrians who want to do one simple thing: read. Pages, a bookstore and cafe, represents one man’s ambitious quest to change the lives of Syrian youth.
The founder of Pages Bookstore hopes to create a space for young Syrians curious about the world, who want to escape the isolation of refugee life, and, for a fleeting moment, pretend they are back in their homeland.
Here young children can come and read all the books available for free, or borrow as many as they want, for as little as 20 lire (£4.80) a month. Syrian men and women drink coffee as they write, study and read under the sunlight streaming through the windows, and in the evenings they attend music performances, movie nights, workshops and exhibits.
