Istanbul, Turkey - 19 January 2017
1. Rabaa political sign outside Rabaa restaurant
2. Wide of Rabaa restaurant
3. Rabaa political sign inside Rabaa restaurant
4. Mahmoud Enany, Egyptian student living in Istanbul sitting in Rabaa restaurant
5. Overhead of his bowl of Egyptian food (Fata and Molokhia)
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmoud Enany, Egyptian student living in Turkey:
"Recently the number of Egyptians living here has significantly increased. They faced the problem of finding a restaurant which serves Egyptian food, so the opening of the restaurant was a good thing for all Egyptians here and even the non-Egyptians."
7. Mid of Mohamed Salah, Owner of Rabaa restaurant and ousted Egyptian police officer living in Turkey
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohamed Salah, Owner of Rabaa restaurant and ousted Egyptian police officer living in Turkey:
"Well the workers in the restaurants are Egyptians, Syrians and one Palestinian brother but most of them are Syrians. However the criteria of hiring them is not their nationalities, but the priority is for Arab workers because most of our customers are Arabs. Of course, I bear in mind the Turkish customer. He comes to my restaurant and he finds the food and drink he likes, such as Ayran (a Turkish yoghurt drink)."
9. Mohamed Salah with a Syrian worker in the kitchen
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohamed Salah, Owner of Rabaa restaurant and ousted Egyptian police officer living in Turkey:
"As for the restaurant's name, I believe the Rabaa sign is a symbol of humanity and a beautiful icon that one likes to belong to. Regarding the cuisine, we serve a variety of Egyptian street food such as koshary (pasta and rice topped with chickpeas, lentils, special tomato sauce and fried onion), mombar (stuffed beef sausage) and the like. I am planning to add pizza and pastry to the menu beside the pasta with bechamel sauce. The Egyptian families feel like they're at home when they come to the restaurant."
11. Various of Egyptian worker serving food in restaurant
12. Islam Hagras, an Egyptian Arabic teacher in Istanbul, looking at phone at the table
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Islam Hagras, an Egyptian Arabic teacher in Istanbul:
"Actually the restaurant is good and the idea itself is even better than the food and its quality. Eating Egyptian food in Istanbul somehow takes you home. We claim that we hate Egypt but that is not right. The truth is that we come to the restaurant and eat koshary and mombar to remember Egypt."
14. Various of Hagras eating koshary
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Islam Hagras, an Egyptian Arabic teacher in Istanbul:
"In the beginning I objected to the name as I saw it as an exploitation of the cause. In my view it is a way to attract a certain type of people who represent the majority here in Istanbul by giving the restaurant a name they like. After a while I realised this is OK. If I wanted to support a certain cause I would name something after its name. However personally if I was starting my own project I would not name it after a cause I support. But others have their choices too."
16. Mid of delivery motorcycle outside Rabaa restaurant
17. Mid of worker inside restaurant
18. Close of Koshary dish
19. Close of steam coming out of food pot
20. Chef Rashed cooking at stove
21. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Chef Rashed, Syrian working in Rabaa restaurant:
"My name is Chef Rashed. I have been working in this field for 15 years. I have wide experience in eastern and western cuisines, including the Egyptian cuisine."
22. Chef Rashed cooking at stove
23. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Om Aseel, wife of restaurant owner Mohamed Salah:
"In general Egyptians like to feel that they are eating homemade food. They want to feel that they are in a family home eating homemade food."
24. Various of Om Aseel cooking
The four fingered hand gesture of Rabaa, a sign that first appeared in 2013 after Egyptian government forces forcibly cleared a pro-Muslim Brotherhood sit-in at the Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque in Egypt.
The raid left hundreds dead, security forces among them. The sign became a way of commemorating the dead.
It became popular amongst the Muslim brotherhood and supporters of the deposed former president Mohamed Morsi. To raise four fingers means Rabaa (fourth in Arabic).
However this is not a political institution in Egypt - it's a restaurant in Istanbul.
After the military coup many Egyptians supporting the Muslim brotherhood became wanted for political cases and escaped to countries such as Turkey.
One such person was Mohamed Salah who used to be a policeman in Egypt
He escaped to Sirinevler, one of the most famous districts for Egyptians in Istanbul.
However discovering there was nowhere for Egyptians to find food from their country he decided to open a restaurant, and that's how Rabaa originated.
As well as making traditional Egyptian dishes such as koshary and mombar he tries to cater for all Arab customers.
"Well the workers in the restaurants are Egyptians, Syrians and one Palestinian brother but most of them are Syrians. However the criteria of hiring them is not their nationalities, but the priority is for Arab workers because most of our customers are Arabs. Of course, I bear in mind the Turkish customer. He comes to my restaurant and he finds the food and drink he likes, such as Ayran (a Turkish yoghurt drink)," he says.
Salah lost his job as a policeman in Cairo after the authorities found out that he opposed the military coup. He came to Turkey one year ago and ran a smaller restaurant until now. He says he chose the name Rabaa for his new restaurant because he thinks it reflects a human story.
"As for the restaurant's name, I believe the Rabaa Sign is a symbol of humanity and a beautiful icon that one likes to belong to."
However some visitors to the restaurant are suspicious of the politically charged name.
"In the beginning I objected to the name as I saw it as an exploitation of the cause. In my view it is a way to attract a certain type of people who represent the majority here in Istanbul by giving the restaurant a name they like. After a while I realised this is OK", says Islam Hagras, an Egyptian Arabic teacher living in Istanbul.
But whatever people's feelings about the name, the restaurant has enabled Egyptians to feel like they're dining back in their home country, as Salah's wife Om Assel explains.
"In general Egyptians like to feel that they are eating homemade food. They want to feel that they are in a family home eating homemade food."
