As I was talking to the 17yr old kid in a park near Taksim square, these other 2 kids came up and wanted me to take their picture. After I did they started talking to the 17 yr old I had been talking to in Turkish. After a minute or so he said “We should go” and we started to walking away.

They, and another one of their friends, started following us. They surrounded us as we walked and kept talking to him in Turkish. I asked him what they were saying and he said, “They want us to give them money.” He kept arguing with them and eventually told them, “Leave us alone or I’ll call the police.” The little kid got up in his face and pushed him.

We kept moving towards Taksim Square where there was a big crowd of people and police with automatic weapons. The 3 street kids followed us all the way up to within 15 ft of the police demanding money and walking on all sides of us. 

After they left we started walking down Istiklal st. I decided that was enough of that adventure so we separated ways. I hope that kid had better luck the rest of the night…