The Capital of Cultures: Istanbul

I’m İstanbul! *

I’m İstanbul, city of cities, queen of metropolis, town of poets, dearest of emperors, land of sultans, pearl of the earth. My name is Istanbul: I’m the most wonderful, most mysterious, dangerous city of the Pagans, the Christians, the Jewish and also the atheists.

I’m the city of the 21st century’s shining star, happiness and catastrophes, beatings and surprises. I am Istanbul, I am the blue of hope, green of poison, pink of dawn, redbud, mimosa, lavender and I am the turquoise! I’m the city of mystical.

Istanbul is my name; I have been the destiny of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle and the Near East, the Balkans and the Caucasians, far and close, front and back of Asian for thousand years.

I am the city of emperors, sultans, heroes, nobles, the privileged, soldiers and also porters, the poor, tired people, the homeless and orphans and street children. I am a unique city with seven hills both in Asia and Europe.

Now, my name is Istanbul, people have been calling me Istanbul nearly for a century. One of my old names was Constantine’s city; they used to call me Constantinople and at the very first time it was Byzantium. I also had other names: The Door of Happiness, Dersaadet, Asitane, Nea Rome… If they had asked me I would have wanted it to be called the City of Queens. That’s what I am, city of cities and city of queens.

Big and noble cities were always settled beside water. Either a river, a lake or a sea and an ocean. Water is life and civilization. Water is economy and trade. Water is fish, fish is water, love. Love is water. I am Istanbul: I was settled in the middle of the three seas, in fact there is a sea passing through me. If you want to understand me, you should first realize that it is a sea that flows through my Bosphorus. The most important secrets of my character and soul lie here. I am Istanbul, not understood unless it is realizd, not loved unless it is understood and I am the city of cities, once loved, never forgotten! (Buket Uzuner, “İstanbullular”, Everest Yayınları, İstanbul: 2007)