Having been the seat of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires, Istanbul has a lot of history about it. But, rest assured, there is lot more to it than just that
The sweet smell of spring was in the air and rushing though the streets on way to the hotel I was delighted with the sight of a blossoming Istanbul.
During my last visit to the city, I had landed in the midst of severe winters and heavy snow and hence could only see slush and the accompanying dirt! Then owing to the weather, whatever time was available between meetings, I spent a lot of time inside the several museums, including the Topkapi. But this time, it was going to be different.
Over the course of millennia, Istanbul has been the seat of three great empires Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman. The city has also been the meeting place of people of many religions and cultures, who came together and learned to live in peace and harmony.
The immediate introduction to the city’s past grandeur and imperial history is by just driving around the Golden Horn and the great wall of Constantinople St Sophia: the magnificent Byzantine Church, one of the finest and largest architectural works of art in the world. Many tourists nominate it to be the 8th wonder of the world.
Then there is the Blue Mosque, one of the largest, representing 17the century architecture, is the principal adornment of the Istanbul sky line. The mosque is famous also for its blue tiles and six minarets.
Turkey, currently the 18th most visited country in the world, is expected to soar to the 11th spot by 2006. It is visited most, by the Germans, followed by the Russians and Britons third. The sun starved Europeans make a dash to Turkey’s 3000 beaches, each year and the number just continues to grow.
It is said that three major kinds of cuisine exist in the world; Turkish, Chinese and French. Fully justifying its reputation, the Turkish cuisine, served at all the functions I attended, was a pleasant and delicious experience. In addition to being the refined product of centuries of experience, Turkish cuisine has a very pure quality. The variety and simplicity of the recipes and the quality of ingredients were always a guarantee of delicious meals.
Istanbul, as a conference city, has been in spotlight since 2004. Events like NATO and the OECD conference, it has attracted much global attention. The ADB meeting, that I was there to attend was held at the most biggest and popular venue in Istanbul, the Lutfi Kindar convention and exhibition center (ICEC). Over the course of 2004, it hosted the world newspaper congress, the OECD conference for ministers responsible for SME’s and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The ICEC can easily boast of its most elaborate of facilities. Apart from a capacity to hold 5500 individuals, the centre can cater to 3500 delegates in one open space.
The grand opening of the ADB meeting took place at Anadolu Auditorium. Before engaging ourselves to ‘economics and numbers’, which in spite of being a banker, I find boring and mundane, we were entertained to a lively chorus performance of small children, which was followed by an excellent fusion of the traditional Turkish music (including the swirling dervishes) with Mozart symphony 134.
At one of the receptions, I was introduced to Ms. Sebnem Turkay, a banker who is the Country Manger of a foreign bank in Turkey. It was with her, that driving through down the slopes of Istanbul, while discussing the political thought of Mr Bulent Ecevit and Mr Sulaiman Demaril, we finally arrived, at the backyards of the Topkapi Palace, which houses a 1500 hundred year old Byzantine Church. We were here to attend a function.
The dim lights, the huge and high canopy and the splendour of the dome, with coloured glasses, was a spectacular setting, for what turned out to be a most memorable musical evening. The audience was enthralled fro over 90 minutes by the ‘Pekinel Twins’, who live in Switzerland. One feature of the twins that fascinated me most, was their unheard mumbling of the musical motes, in absolute unison. It was a performance to remember.
My hotel room had a magnificent view of the Straits of Bosphorous. The blue shimmering waters conjoining and separating two land masses, was filled with regular ferry and container vessel traffic. Offering Fajr prayers, facing the Bosphorous, because Mecca is south-east of Istanbul was a soul enriching experience.
My room on the 15th floor, faced a well-kept roof garden, and seagulls would early morning, each day, abound the place. Even the seagulls looked healthy and fresh!
Browsing through a magazine, I came across a passage that said, “ The Turks may have failed at the gates of Vienna, but the conquest of London is complete with the opening of a huge exhibition at one of that city’s oldest and most important institution for the fine art. Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, AD600-1600 at the Royal Academy, has become the must see exhibition”. With Turkey knocking at the doors of the European Community for over three decades, the country has aroused great interest amongst Europeans who are now openly asking “who are these Turks?” and “are they really Europeans?” This exhibition promises to intensify this debate.
Turkey, keep up the persistence, some day, Europe will accept you. And beyond the gates of Vienna!
Having been the seat of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires, Istanbul has a lot of history about it. But, rest assured, there is lot more to it than just that
Then there is the Blue Mosque, one of the largest, representing 17the century architecture, is the principal adornment of the Istanbul sky line. The mosque is famous also for its blue tiles and six minarets.
The grand opening of the ADB meeting took place at Anadolu Auditorium. Before engaging ourselves to ‘economics and numbers’, which in spite of being a banker, I find boring and mundane, we were entertained to a lively chorus performance of small children, which was followed by an excellent fusion of the traditional Turkish music (including the swirling dervishes) with Mozart symphony 134.
My room on the 15th floor, faced a well-kept roof garden, and seagulls would early morning, each day, abound the place. Even the seagulls looked healthy and fresh!
