Julian LeMont

Istanbul, metropolis of 16 million and Europe’s bridge to Asia, ranks among the least publicized hotspots in Europe. It certainly attracts tourists, but few talk about the city’s spectacular geographical location on the Bosphorus no less beautiful than Rio de Janeiro or Cape Town. Few realize either how much of a thriving happening place Istanbul has become, including over a million young sexy Turks ready to display Turkish hospitality. Of course, only few locals can be met in the tourist areas around Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkap Palace in Sultanahmed, but venturing down busy ISTIKLAL Street in the heart of BEYOGLU near the true downtown of modern Istanbul, TAKSIM SQUARE, is one uplifting, invigorating and eroticizing experience from dusk to dawn. Here it is easy to meet locals, and although ISLAM and openly GAY CULTURE have a bit of an ambiguous relationship, Istanbul certainly has plenty of gay-friendly venues to choose from, including restaurants, bars and clubs. Here, a stone’s throw away from ISTIKLAL, we find busy TEK-YÖN, one of the most quintessentially Turkish and popular gay hangouts in town. Check out their website at http://www.tekyonclub.com. Located just off seedy TALABASI Boulevard, separating the heart of modern Beyoglu from slums full of drug addicts and prostitution, this bar is perfect to indulge in local Turkish music and culture, and make new local friends.

Many many a unique anecdote could be told about gay encounters in Istanbul, including digging through thousands of Istanbuli gay men’s jackets at TEK-YÖN one New Year’s Eve at 430 am after my date lost our mutual coat-check ticket. Another favorite story is about visiting the hellhole of a sauna just off Istiklal, full to the max with ugly hustlers preying on an even uglier clientele. The old fat guy at the register turned out to be the owner or “madam”, and he quickly realized I was far hotter than any of his cheap ugly Anatolian hustler guys – so he did some emergency calls and sure enough, thirty minutes into my sauna visit, an incredibly hot, young, Turkish stud appeared right next to me in the dry sauna. Go figure, but needless to say, I had plenty of non-paying ways to get entertained by local Turks – so TEK-YÖN was on my program again later that night.

So I arranged a date with a a nice local boy, an Istanbuli living in Canada, and met him at Taksim to go to Tek-yön for a drink before deciding to head to his house nearby, just inside the slum-like neighborhood on the other side of Talabasi Boulevard. I was a bit reluctant at first, but the house was close enough to the main street and was totally refurbished and protected, so I felt safe. My date, a slender well-toned guy in his mid-20s, was getting ready to have “supper” with his “roommate”. explaining both of them worked at night and thus had a different eating and sleeping pattern. His “roommate” was even hotter, masculine with just the right amount of body and facial hair, and sparkling green eyes, so sexy on a darker-tanned guy. I sampled some of their late-night food, followed by lots of wine and a smoke.

Despite my earlier fatigue, I increasingly became more alert yet relaxed – was it the cozy atmosphere, or the 2 hot Turks or the wine or the smoke? Possibly all of them, as I  started passionately kissing with my Canadian Turk and soon found myself underneath both of them, eager to show me Turkish hospitality to the max. They took turns pushing me in ever new positions and venting their unrelented lust. It was another moment of almost incredible sexual passion and fulfillment. There was only one faux-pas: As our Turkish hospitality duo was about to explode in lust, my head got twisted in a less desirable position and several years of chiropractic treatment were left in shambles. We continued our passionate lovemaking and were able to reach unprecedented fulfillment, but since then, I have had time and again plenty an effort to make with my chiro friend trying to get the demons of the Turkish Twisters out of my neck.