So this week we are in Istanbul! Istanbul is cool for a lot of reasons. The first is the history. This is where Constantinople was and the entire Holy Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire was ruled from here. Then the Ottomans conquered Istanbul and ruled the Middle East for 4 centuries. The second is the location. It is located on both Europe and Asia and is a unique gateway from Europe to the Middle East. The third is the beauty of the city. There are lots of colors and unique houses and architectural colors!
Day 1: We arrived in Istanbul midday from Cairo by plane, and hit the ground running with a ferry ride on the Bosporus River. The Bosporus is the official dividing line between Europe and Asia. It was a cool, wet day and that was exciting in and of itself coming from hot, dry Cairo. What was cool to see is the intense Turkish nationalism. We have been reading all about the extreme Turkish identity, and the flags and Ataturk pictures were out in force. Although a lot of that may have to do with the fact that tomorrow is the National Republic Day, commemorating the formation of the Turkish state.
The Bosporus trip was beautiful! The river, the hills, the houses, Istanbul was stunning. As a very European, westernized city, it was a huge contrast to Cairo. After our river trip, we broke into smaller groups and I found a small café with some great Turkish food. Our hotel is right off of Taksim Square, the happening place in downtown. I ended up talking baseball with a random American guy, as well, and finished the night off with some amazing Apple Tea. Quite the day!
Day 2: Today we heard from Barchin Yinanc, a newspaper editor for the Turkish Daily News. She spoke generally on many Turkish issues, and was very candid and informative. We have done a lot of reading on Turkey, but she helped fill in the gaps with her inside knowledge.
From there, we put our tourist hats back on and visited the Ottoman Topkapi Palace. That was great and interesting of course. We walked around Istanbul and walked along the Bosporus. Interesting side note: we know one Turk in this country and that is our tour guide. Who do we randomly run into in old downtown 7 hours after we left him? Adil, in a city of 15 million Turks!
Day 3: Went to the Justice and Development Party headquarters and heard from one of their representatives. Turkey is very very interesting politically, with tension between the government and military, controversy over secularism and religion, and how to be 99% Islamic but also modern. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) is the controlling party in the government and has been very successful. Listening to the representative’s talk about Turkish politics from one of the ones shaping it was intriguing.
In an interesting turnaround, we went from there to the American consulate, where we met with the American consul to Istanbul and discussed Turkey’s significance in the world, American interests in Turkey and how all the Middle East/ European puzzle pieces fit together.
Day 4: Today, we went to the Hagia Sophia, which was a cathedral for centuries and the center of the Byzantine Empire, before being taken over by the Ottoman Empire and converted to a mosque. It was the largest building in the world for centuries, and is still considered an architectural marvel. The place was breathtaking and had a unique array of Christian and Muslim symbols on the walls. After that we visited the Blue Mosque, which was somewhat overrated after coming from the Hagia Sophia. We finished the day off at the Grand Bazaar, which was quite the market!
A few more days in Istanbul, then it is 3 days in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, then off to Syria!!