From: amoojoon@ghahveh.khooneh.mash.yadollAh (Bacheh Morshed)
Subject: amoo dar Torkeeyeh(episode 2)
Summary: yeki bood, yeki nabood
Keywords: ShahrAm, NAder, RezA, KeyvAn, Saied
Organization: naghAl khooneh
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 17:59:10 GMT


 SalAm ahAliyeh mohtarameh SCI,

In the last episode I was about to visit the kArvAnsarA in the heart of the 
infamous AksArAy of Istanbul. Here is what happened next;

AhAliyeh kArvAnsarA
*******************

We finally stopped in front of this rusty old door in the middle of a dead-
end alley. Amir knocked the door using a "knock code" which was made up by 
the residents to avoid uninvited guests such as Turkish police, etc.
A guy in his twenties oppenned the door and before saying hi asked Amir who 
I was. Amir said: "a good friend who is visiting Turkey, something wrong?".
The guy said no and we got inside. Immediately behind the door on the left 
was an staircase to upstairs where the land lord, ArsalAn Abi(dAdAsh 
ArsalAn), lived. Amir explained this to me as we entered, however what he 
didn't explain then was that ArsalAn Abi was also a drug dealer whose 
customers would stop by to get their doses around the clock. So there were 
two sets of "knock codes" to enable the residents to distinguish between the 
friends and foes.

The first room was a mid size room with a sofa and a bed. Everything was old
and the entire place was damp. There were four men in their twenties to 
whom I was introduced: RezA, NAder, Saied, and KeyvAn.

RezA did not look anything like an Iranian; long blond hair, pale skin, 
an small round glasses. I found out later that he dyed his hair to fool 
Turkish police who was after him for not having a "kimlik". RezA had been 
deported once while trying to get into Italy using a Yugoslavian passport.

NAder was "Mr. deport" of the kArvAnsarA since he had been deported three 
times from different places. He had paid a lot of money to Turkish 
authorities to avoid prison. As a result of his multiple failed attempts he 
was in a very unstable psychological conditions. I was advised by Amir not 
to ask any questions from NAder. He was the only one in the house who had 
expressed desire for going back to Iran no matter what could happen to him.
Nobody took his claim seriously, though, since everybody attributed that to 
his extreme depression. NAder's ghAchAghchi was a retired police officer who 
was kind enough not to charge him for each attempt separately; He had 
originally paid $2500 and was supposed to get to Denmark, or Germany.

Saied was the only person in the house who wasn't from Tehran. He had joined 
the group in MahAbAd but he was originally from Kerman. He had been deported 
once but he wasn't as lucky as NAder; he had lost his money as well as his 
ghAchAghchi who apparently was an amateure. He had since joined a 
ghAchAghchi in his operations and was trying to make some money. Saied was 
considered dangerous by Amir who thought he would do just about anything for 
money. My personal impression from Saied was that he was very relaxed and 
diplomatic in his attitude. He seemed to have long term plans for everything.

KeyvAn was the youngest in the house. His ghAchAghchi was an Iranian who was 
an expert in sending people to Canada using a fake U.S. visa! He had already 
sent KeyvAn's cousin for $3000. Now he had raised the price to $4000 but 
everybody said that he was very reliable and "looti" in his manners and 
activities. KeyvAn had a Turkish girl friend whose home address was used 
by Keyvan for receiving packages from Iran. So KeyvAn was also the main 
supplier of Iranian "ghAghAlili" for the house. He had only one dream: 
Canada.

We talked until 3:00 a.m. that night. Then Amir walked me to EsteghlAl Ave. 
where I caught a cab and went back to my "otel". 

There is a supermarket chain in Turkey called Migors. That afternoon on my 
way back to the hotel I stopped by a Migros to pick up some snacks. In the 
check out line I heard two Iranian women speaking about some other woman's 
husband that had just made it to Sweeden the night before. I was amazed by 
the magnitude of the issue in Turkey. So far the only Iranians that I had 
bumped into were those either directly involved in ghAchAgh or had a close 
aquaitance who was.

At the lobby Amir was waiting for me. He had news from ShahrAm. Amir had 
found a ghAchAghchi that morning whose main line of work was getting Iranian 
kids out of prison for a $500 fee. The only problem was that nobody knew 
whether he was reliable enough, and even if he was, nobody was willing to 
pay that money. I asked Amir "what about ShahrAm's parents?". He said nobody 
had told them that ShahrAm was in jail. Amir didn't want to jeopardize his 
own money either, because there was absolutely no guarantee that it would 
lead to ShahrAm's release from prison. So after some discussion we decided 
to call ShahrAm's parents and let them know. This was the hardest part for 
both of us since Amir wanted me to do it and I thought it was Amir's duty as 
ShahrAm's travel buddy and the person who had seen him before prison. On 
those days dialing a number in Iran from Turkey was not the easiest thing to 
do. It took us a couple of hours until we finally heard a tone from the 
other side. 


TO BE CONTINUED...

Next episode: Yoresh beh kArvAnsarA
***********************************


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(C) 1992 AJAB

Shab-o roozetAn khosh

amoojoon