Where East still meets West

"COME WALK through the ancient streets of Istanbul in the cool days of an approaching winter. There is a bit of snow on the ground, and the sun dances on the Bosphorus, that narrow body of water that traditionally separates Europe from Asia."

"There was a day when Istanbul coursed with different religions, nationalities, and sects, and the streets were filled with the babble of a dozen tongues. For this was the capital of one of the world's great polyglot empires, and Istanbul was among the world's most cosmopolitan cities. But with the fall of the Ottomans and World War I, all that ended."

"One has to look to London and Paris now for the same diversity that Istanbul once stood for. The end of empire for Europe meant the influx of those over whom the Europeans once ruled. But in Istanbul most of the vibrant minorities went elsewhere. That a few remain at all, however, says something for this city and this country in a region where tolerance is in such short supply."

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