PHOTO ESSAY: Istanbul’s porters keep centuries-old trade moving

ISTANBUL (AP) — On the streets of Istanbul, porters hauling massive sacks wrapped in white plastic — on their backs or in handcarts — are a ubiquitous yet often overlooked part of the city’s fabric.

Known as hamallık in Turkish, porterage is a profession that has endured from the Ottoman Empire to the present day.

It remains especially common in Istanbul’s historic trade quarters — the Egyptian Bazaar, the Grand Bazaar, and the Eminönü district — where traditional commercial buildings known as hans contain workshops and businesses that produce jewelry, textiles and other goods.

Because many of these centuries-old hans lack elevators and are surrounded by narrow streets inaccessible to vehicles, porters remain indispensable. In Eminönü, many streets are closed to traffic during the day, making their work even more essential.

A porter can carry between 200 and 300 kilograms (440–660 pounds) of goods up to the fifth floor of a han using a semer — a traditional wooden-and-leather harness worn on the back. These semers are often passed down from father to son, reflecting the generational nature of the trade. (The profession is traditionally male; female porters are extremely rare.)

Porters are organized into divisions, with leaders who are responsible for distributing work fairly among members, who earn daily wages based on the number and weight of the loads they carry.

It’s a grueling job that demands extraordinary strength and endurance, and only a few can meet its physical challenges. The porters take pride in their craft and are selective about who joins their ranks.

Omer Okan, 60, has been working as a porter for three decades, often carrying more than 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) on his back in a day.

The job is precarious. Okan notes that most porters work without insurance and can’t earn money if they’re sick or injured. Work has begun to dry up as large wholesale merchants have moved out of the Eminönü area, where he works.

“Some days we return home without earning any money,” he said.

The profession was passed down from his grandfather. Okan takes pride in his work, but sometimes he feels overlooked by the society that relies on it.

“When I started this profession, people treated us with great respect,” he said. “Now, no one in Turkey has any respect for anyone else.”

This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.

Suat Demir, a 52-year-old parter, smokes a cigarette after finishing his work day in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

A porter carries a load on his back up the stairs in the Eminonu commercial area of Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Porters carry loads on their backs inside the historic Büyük Yeni Han commercial building in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Porters place a load on a co-worker's back in the Eminonu commercial area of Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

People walk along the popular Mahmutpaşa Street in the Eminonu commercial area of Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Mevlut, a 75-year-old porter, poses for a portrait while he takes a break in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Boxes of goods are piled up in the Eminonu commercial area of Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Porters take a break near the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

A porter carries a load on his back in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

A porter pulls his trolley after unloading goods in the Eminonu commercial area of Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Locked harnesses used by porters sit at a porter headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Porters use trolleys to pull loads in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

People stroll through Eminonu, a bustling commercial district by the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Porters haul loads up the stairway in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

A porter pulls a trolley loaded with goods in the popular Eminonu commercial area of Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man who authorities say tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives and tried to kill President Donald Trump will appear Thursday in court as a judge decides whether Cole Tomas Allen will remain behind bars while awaiting trial.

In pressing for Allen's continued detention, prosecutors have alleged that he planned his attack for weeks and tracked Trump's movements online before he ran through a magnetometer at the Washington Hilton while holding a long gun and disrupted one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation's capital.

Allen was injured during the attack but was not shot. A Secret Service officer was shot but was wearing a bullet-resistant vest and survived, officials say. Prosecutors have said they believe Allen fired his shotgun at least once and that a Secret Service agent fired five shots. They have not publicly confirmed that it was Allen's bullet that struck the agent's vest.

In a letter to prosecutors on Wednesday, Allen's lawyers alleged that some of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's statements “indicate that the recovered ballistics evidence is inconsistent with aspects of the government’s theory, evidence collected by the government and/or statements made by witnesses.”

The Justice Department, in response, said the evidence shows Allen fired his shotgun at least once in the Secret Service agent's direction. Investigators recovered at least one fragment at the crime scene that is consistent with a buckshot pellet, prosecutors wrote.

"The government is aware of no physical evidence, digital video evidence, or witness statements that are inconsistent with the theory that your client fired his shotgun in the direction" of the officer or that the officer "was indeed shot once in the chest while wearing a ballistic vest," prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Allen took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes before the incident, and that he was outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife. In a message that authorities say sheds light on his motive, Allen referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and alluded obliquely to grievances over a range of Trump administration actions, according to writings sent to family members shortly before shots were fired Saturday night. The Associated Press reviewed the writings.

Allen's lawyers are pressing for his release, arguing in court papers that the government's case is “based upon inferences drawn about Mr. Allen’s intent that raise more questions than answers.” They defense noted that Allen's writings never mentioned Trump by name.

"The government’s evidence of the charged offense –- the attempted assassination of the president –- is thus built entirely upon speculation, even under the most generous reading of its theory," defense lawyers wrote.

Allen was charged on Monday with that crime, as well as two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination count alone.

Allen, 31, is from Torrance, California. He is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.

President Donald Trump speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House after an unspecified threat at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows some of the weapons and shotgun ammunition that Cole Tomas Allen possessed, Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington. (Department of Justice via AP)

U.S. Secret Service agents surround President Donald Trump before he was taken from the stage after a shooting incident outside the ballroom during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows Cole Tomas Allen, left, inside his hotel room, on Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington, using his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror. An enhanced version of the image is right. (Department of Justice via AP)

U.S. Secret Service agents respond on stage during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)