While feeding seagulls with a fork in the middle of historical mosques is among the new trends in Istanbul, taking photos while feeding seagulls with a fork in the middle of Hagia Sophia and Sultan Ahmet Mosque has become a trend among tourists.
In this trend, which has become famous on social media, about 2 thousand tourists pose the same pose every day in the view of Istanbul, while local and foreign tourists who come to Istanbul from many countries of the world feed seagulls in the view of Hagia Sophia Mosque and Sultan Ahmet Mosque. A business located in the view of Istanbul hosts about 2 thousand tourists and tourists take photos while giving their leftovers to seagulls.
The restaurant uses leftover food from customers to feed seagulls, attracting tourists and preventing waste. While it is noted that tourists travel thousands of kilometers to pose for this shot, there is no obligation to order in order to be a guest of the restaurant and you can enter the business free of charge. Explaining how the idea of feeding the seagulls came about, business owner Cemil Çelik said the following in his statement:
"A seagull came to my table while I was having breakfast. I gave cheese to the seagull and the seagulls made this a habit every morning. Then our guests who came to our restaurant started to feed the seagulls with their hands and then we started to give the leftovers to the seagulls. Especially foreign tourists come thousands of kilometers to take photos by feeding the seagulls in this view. Currently, there are tourists from all over the world who come for a day just to take this photo. About 2 thousand people come here every day and take photos by feeding the seagulls. They can come here without eating or drinking anything and take photos for free.''
