Set of cult comedy classic to become banking center

ISTANBUL

The Turkish Banks Association (TBB) has acquired the historic Ahmet Ratıp Paşa Köşkü in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district, a building widely known to Turkish and international audiences through its role as the filming location of the “Hababam Sınıfı” (The Chaos Class) series, one of Türkiye’s most iconic comedy franchises.

TBB President Alpaslan Çakar said the association purchased the building and plans to restore and repurpose it as its new headquarters following renovation works.

The decision turns the building into the administrative headquarters of Türkiye’s banking sector, marking a new era for a structure that has long carried both architectural and cultural significance in Turkish popular memory.

The Ahmet Ratıp Paşa Köşkü, also known in earlier periods as the Çamlıca Girls’ High School, is a late Ottoman-era mansion located on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, overlooking the Bosphorus hills of Üsküdar.

Beyond its historical identity, the building is best known to the Turkish public as the set of “Hababam Sınıfı,” a beloved film series originally adapted from Rıfat Ilgaz’s novel.

The story follows a classroom of mischievous, rule-breaking high school students and their interactions with strict teachers, blending satire and slapstick humor to portray school life in a way that became deeply embedded in Turkish cultural memory.