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117-611: IBDA-C has a history of claiming credit for attacks most experts believe are beyond its capabilities, such as the November 2003 and July 2008 attacks on diplomatic, business, and religious interests in Istanbul . As such, its designation with the United States government continues to be as an "Other Terrorist Group", as opposed to the better-organized and -financed groups designated as official "Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations". IBDA-C

234-671: A Turkish city since 1923, it contains many ancient, Roman, Byzantine, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish monuments. The Neolithic settlement in the Yenikapı quarter on the European side, which dates back to c.  6500 BCE and predates the formation of the Bosporus by approximately a millennium, when the Sea of Marmara was still a lake, was discovered during the construction of the Marmaray railway tunnel. It

351-566: A beacon of the Silk Road and one of the most important cities in history. The city played a key role in the advancement of Christianity during Roman/Byzantine times, hosting four of the first seven ecumenical councils before its transformation to an Islamic stronghold following the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 CE—especially after becoming the seat of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1517. In 1923, after

468-467: A bomb-laden truck that had parked in front of the Bet Israel Synagogue on Nakiye Elgün Street in Şişli was detonated. Many of the worshippers praying at the synagogue that Saturday , a day considered sacred by Jews, and those near the temple lost their lives, and the area surrounding the synagogue was badly damaged. Approximately four minutes after the first explosion, at around 9:34 a.m.,

585-482: A center of Greek culture and Christianity. Numerous churches were built across the city, including Hagia Sophia which was built during the reign of Justinian I and remained the world's largest cathedral for a thousand years. Constantine also undertook a major renovation and expansion of the Hippodrome of Constantinople ; accommodating tens of thousands of spectators, the hippodrome became central to civic life and, in

702-403: A city with above-freezing average temperatures. Istanbul's precipitation is unevenly distributed, with winter months getting at least twice the level of precipitation of their summerly counterparts. The mode of precipitation also varies by season. Winter precipitation is generally light, persistent and often of mixed precipitation such as rain-snow mixes and graupel ; while summer precipitation

819-596: A contingent roughly defined as those who are willing to take up arms for the faith of Islam. Viewing Turkey's secular governmental system as "illegal," IBDA-C wishes to destroy the secular state and constitutional system and replace it with religious rule and law, first in Turkey, and then throughout the world. The group has gone about asserting these goals by inflicting armed terror primarily on civilian targets. IBDA-C shares ideological ties with Al-Qaeda . Necip Fazıl Kısakürek , whom IBDA-C borrows its core ideology from, advocated

936-487: A cosmopolitan society that persisted through much of the Ottoman period. Revitalizing Istanbul also required a massive program of restorations, of everything from roads to aqueducts . Like many monarchs before and since, Mehmed II transformed Istanbul's urban landscape with wholesale redevelopment of the city center. There was a huge new palace to rival, if not overshadow, the old one , a new covered market (still standing as

1053-725: A historic school building in the nearby Zincirlikuyu quarter. Various nations condemned the attacks and offered their condolences, including the US and Germany. Initially, a militant Turkish Islamic group, the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front took responsibility. Turkey charged 74 people with involvement in the bombings, including Syrians Loai al-Saqa and Hamid Obysi, and a Turk, Harun Ilhan. Ilhan admitted that he and two other suspected ringleaders — Habib Akdaş and Gurcan Bac — were responsible; Ilhan referred to himself as ‘an al-Qaeda warrior'. Akdas fled to Iraq, where he

1170-534: A large role in the city's infrastructure development, with over 500,000 vulnerable buildings demolished and replaced since 2012. According to ministry statements and geologist comments made in 2023, the city's infrastructure was in reasonably good shape, however, due to very high costs, buildings were not: over half a million flats were still vulnerable to collapse, and casualties largely depend on how many collapse. As of 2024 , most buildings in Istanbul were built to

1287-472: A low seismic standard in the 20th century, and residents think the city is not properly prepared for the earthquake . Istanbul's climate is temperate , and is often described as transitional between the Mediterranean climate typical of the western and southern coasts of Turkey, and the oceanic climate of the northwestern coasts of the country. Much divergence exists in the terminology used to classify

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1404-401: A natural toll-gate. Several picturesque islands— Büyükada , Heybeliada , Burgazada , Kınalıada , and five smaller islands—are part of the city. Istanbul's shoreline has grown beyond its natural limits. Large sections of Caddebostan sit on areas of landfill, increasing the total area of the city to 5,343 square kilometers (2,063 sq mi). Despite the myth that seven hills make up

1521-409: A press release riddled with inaccuracies, that 23 people had died from the first bombings but later corrected the mistakes in a statement to the press and changed the number of casualties to 27. This number rose to 28 on 9 February 2004 when Celal Dilsiz, a patient who had been receiving care in a hospital for almost three months, died from his injuries. The funeral ceremonies for six Jews who died in

1638-642: A primary urban park, but it has several green areas. Gülhane Park and Yıldız Park were originally included within the grounds of two of Istanbul's palaces — Topkapı Palace and Yıldız Palace —but they were repurposed as public parks in the early decades of the Turkish Republic. Another park, Fethi Paşa Korusu , is on a hillside adjacent to the Bosphorus Bridge in Anatolia, opposite Yıldız Palace in Europe. Along

1755-428: A result of Istanbul's exponential growth in the 20th century, a significant portion of the city is composed of gecekondus (literally "built overnight"), referring to illegally constructed squatter buildings. At present, some gecekondu areas are being gradually demolished and replaced by modern mass-housing compounds. Moreover, large scale gentrification and urban renewal projects have been taking place, such as

1872-674: A result of these bombings, 28 people died, included the attackers, and more than 300 people were wounded. Five days after the first attacks, on 20 November, two different attacks were perpetrated against the British Consulate General at around 10:55 a.m. and the HSBC General Headquarters in Beşiktaş at around 11:00 a.m., again using truck bombs. In the second round of attacks, 31 people lost their lives and more than 450 were injured. In total, 59 people died, including

1989-515: A return to "pure Islamic values" and the restoration of a universal Islamic caliphate in the Muslim world . His system of thought, Büyük Doğu , was an absolutist ideology promising to bring Muslims closer to success and salvation, with the central idea that truth is only accessible through the practice of Islam. He also argued that the secular nature of Turkey was responsible for the state's inability to ward off what he saw as Western imperialism. Kısakürek

2106-466: A riot against authorities at Metris Prison. Following the imprisonment of Erdiş, IBDA-C continued its activities, being most heavily active in the Istanbul region, attacking bars, discothèques, and churches. Members of IBDA-C don't operate under any defined hierarchical structure, and carry out actions in small independent groups that are united behind their common goals and ideologies. The Great East Islamic Raiders Front comprises Turkish Sunni Jihadis ,

2223-553: A second attack occurred with the detonation of another bomb-laden truck passing by the Neve Shalom Synagogue on Büyük Hendek Avenue in Beyoğlu. Prayers were being held in three separate rooms of the synagogue, and a child's bar mitzvah ceremony was being held with 400 people in attendance. Because the walls of the synagogue had been fortified after previous attacks, the internal walls of the structure were not badly damaged, but

2340-451: A series of nationwide protests in 2013 covering a wide range of issues. Popular during the summer among Istanbulites is Belgrad Forest , spreading across 5,500 hectares (14,000 acres) at the northern edge of the city. The forest originally supplied water to the city and remnants of reservoirs used during Byzantine and Ottoman times survive. Istanbul is primarily known for its Byzantine and Ottoman architecture. Despite its development as

2457-457: A series of suicide attacks carried out with trucks fitted with bombs detonated at four different locations in Istanbul , Turkey, on 15 and 20 November 2003. On 15 November, two truck bombs were detonated, one in front of the Bet Israel Synagogue in Şişli at around 9:30 a.m. local time ( UTC+2.00 ) and another in front of the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Beyoğlu at around 9:34 a.m. As

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2574-516: A set of corridors lined with office buildings, residential towers, shopping centers, and university campuses, and over 2,000,000 m (22,000,000 sq ft) of class-A office space in total. Maslak , Levent , and Bomonti are important nodes within the CBD. The Atatürk Airport corridor is another such edge city -style business, residential and shopping corridor with over 900,000 m (9,700,000 sq ft) of class-A office space. During

2691-503: A truck that had parked in front of the HSBC Bank AS building on Büyükdere Avenue in the Levent neighborhood of Beşiktaş . There were fatalities and injuries inside and near the building, and after the explosion, the first six aboveground stories of the building became unusable and the front side of the building was badly damaged. Inside the building, an elevator that had been in motion at

2808-469: Is a large and rapidly expanding city, its urban heat island has been intensifying the effects of climate change. If trends continue, sea level rise is likely to affect city infrastructure, for example Kadıkoy metro station is threatened with flooding. Xeriscaping of green spaces has been suggested, and Istanbul has a climate-change action plan. The natural vegetation of the province is made up of mixed broadleaf forest and pseudo-maquis , reflecting

2925-445: Is acute in İstanbul with cars, buses and taxis causing frequent urban smog , as it is one of the few European cities without a low-emission zone . As of 2019 the city's mean air quality remains at a level so as to affect the heart and lungs of healthy street bystanders during peak traffic hours, and almost 200 days of pollution were measured by the air pollution sensors at Sultangazi , Mecidiyeköy , Alibeyköy and Kağıthane . It

3042-720: Is considered the country's economic, cultural and historic capital. The city has a population of over 15 million residents, comprising 19% of the population of Turkey, and is the most populous city in Europe and the world's sixteenth-largest city . The city was founded as Byzantium in the 7th century BCE by Greek settlers from Megara . In 330 CE, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great made it his imperial capital, renaming it first as New Rome ( Ancient Greek : Νέα Ῥώμη Nea Rhomē ; Latin : Nova Roma ) and then finally as Constantinople ( Constantinopolis ) after himself. In 1930,

3159-647: Is generally abrupt and sporadic. Cloudiness, as with precipitation, varies greatly by season. Winters are quite cloudy, with around 20 percent of days being sunny or partly cloudy. Meanwhile, summers experience 60-70 percent of possible sunshine. Snowfall is sporadic, but accumulates virtually every winter; and when it does, it is highly disruptive to city infrastructure. Sea-effect snowstorms with more than 30 centimetres (1 ft) of snowfall happen almost annually, most recently in 2022 . Climate change has caused an increase in Istanbul's heatwaves, droughts, storms, and flooding in Istanbul. Furthermore, as Istanbul

3276-530: Is not known, but thought to be small. IBDA-C has kept relatively quiet in 2004, although seven members of the group were indicted in June for the murder of a Turkish cult leader, Col. tr:İhsan Güven and his wife. Burak Çileli, one of the defendants, is said to have described Güven contemptuously in IBDA-C literature, calling him a "pervert," a "Jewish sympathizer," and "pro-American." The accused were apparently angered that

3393-510: Is one of the 10 worst cities for NO 2 . However a trial of congestion pricing is planned for the historic peninsula. Algal blooms and red tides were reported in the Sea of Marmara and Bosporus (especially in Golden Horn), and regularly happen in urban lakes such as Lake Büyükçekmece and Küçükçekmece . In June 2021, a marine mucilage wave allegedly caused by water pollution spread to Sea of Marmara. The Fatih district, which

3510-402: Is thought to be impossible. Istanbul Municipality's Directorate of Earthquake and Ground Research is responsible for analysing the methods to reduce the urban seismic risk , whereas the national government-controlled Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency is responsible for earthquake emergency response , and will be helped by NGOs such as İHH . The threat of major earthquakes plays

3627-764: The Allies occupied Constantinople on 13 November 1918. The Ottoman Parliament was dissolved by the Allies on 11 April 1920 and the Ottoman delegation led by Damat Ferid Pasha was forced to sign the Treaty of Sèvres on 10 August 1920. Following the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1922), the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara abolished the Sultanate on 1 November 1922, and

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3744-462: The Grand Bazaar ), porticoes, pavilions, walkways, as well as more than a dozen new mosques. Mehmed II turned the ramshackle old town into something that looked like an imperial capital. Social hierarchy was ignored by the rampant plague, which killed the rich and the poor alike in the 16th century. Money could not protect the rich from all the discomforts and harsher sides of Istanbul. Although

3861-525: The Latin Empire in place of the Orthodox Byzantine Empire. Hagia Sophia was converted to a Catholic church in 1204. The Byzantine Empire was restored, albeit weakened, in 1261. Constantinople's churches, defenses, and basic services were in disrepair, and its population had dwindled to a hundred thousand from half a million during the 8th century. After the reconquest of 1261, however, some of

3978-465: The Medieval Greek phrase eis tḕn Pólin ( εἰς τὴν Πόλιν , pronounced [is tim ˈbolin] ), literally 'to the city' and is how Constantinople was referred to by the local Greeks. This reflected its status as the only major city in the vicinity. The importance of Constantinople in the Ottoman world was also reflected by its nickname Dersaadet ( Ottoman Turkish : درساعدت ) meaning

4095-406: The Turkish War of Independence , Ankara replaced the city as the capital of the newly formed Republic of Turkey. Istanbul was the 2010 European Capital of Culture . The city has surpassed London and Dubai to become the most visited city in the world, with more than 20 million foreign visitors in 2023. The historic centre of Istanbul is a UNESCO World Heritage Site , and the city hosts

4212-646: The metropolitan area of Istanbul as result of urban sprawl . Istanbul is in north-western Turkey and straddles the Bosporus Strait , which provides the only passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean via the Sea of Marmara . Historically, the city has been ideally situated for trade and defense: The confluence of the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Golden Horn provide both ideal defense against enemy attack and

4329-503: The 'Gate to Prosperity' in Ottoman Turkish. An alternative view is that the name evolved directly from "Constantinople", with the first and third syllables dropped. Some Ottoman sources of the 17th century, such as Evliya Çelebi , describe it as the common Turkish name of the time; between the late 17th and late 18th centuries, it was also in official use. The first use of the word Islambol ( Ottoman Turkish : اسلامبول ) on coinage

4446-463: The 1930s, when Turkish authorities began to press for the use of Istanbul in foreign languages. Ḳosṭanṭīnīye ( Ottoman Turkish : قسطنطينيه ) and İstanbul were the names used alternatively by the Ottomans during their rule. The name İstanbul ( Ottoman Turkish : استانبول ; pronounced [isˈtanbuɫ] , colloquially [ɯsˈtambuɫ] ) is commonly held to derive from

4563-458: The 1950s the number of dolphin observations has become increasingly rare. Mediterranean monk seals were present in Bosporus, and Princes' Islands and Tuzla shores were seal breeding areas during summer, but they have not been observed in Istanbul since the 1960s and thought to be extinct in the region. Water pollution, overfishing and destruction of coastal habitats caused by urbanization are main threats to Istanbul's marine ecology. Apart from

4680-455: The 1960s as part of the process of Turkification . Further mass expulsions of Greeks took place in 1964–1965. As a result of these policies, the Greek population of Istanbul decreased from 110,000 in 1919 to 2,500 today. From the late 1940s and early 1950s, Istanbul underwent great structural change, as new public squares, boulevards, and avenues were constructed throughout the city, sometimes at

4797-470: The 19th century, leaving only the Galata Tower , to make way for the northward expansion of the city. Galata ( Karaköy ) is today a quarter within the Beyoğlu district, which forms Istanbul's commercial and entertainment center and includes İstiklal Avenue and Taksim Square . Dolmabahçe Palace , the seat of government during the late Ottoman period, is in the Beşiktaş district on the European shore of

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4914-568: The 5th and 6th centuries, the center of episodes of unrest, including the Nika riots . Constantinople's location also ensured its existence would stand the test of time; for many centuries, its walls and seafront protected Europe against invaders from the east and the advance of Islam. During most of the Middle Ages , the latter part of the Byzantine era, Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city on

5031-487: The Ankara government, commanded by Şükrü Naili Pasha (3rd Corps), entered the city with a ceremony on 6 October 1923, which has been marked as the "Liberation Day of Istanbul" ( İstanbul'un Kurtuluşu ), and has been commemorated annually since. On 29 October 1923 the Grand National Assembly of Turkey declared the establishment of the Turkish Republic, with Ankara as its capital. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk became

5148-662: The Bosporus, to the north of Beyoğlu. The former village of Ortaköy is within Beşiktaş and gives its name to the Ortaköy Mosque on the Bosporus, near the Bosporus Bridge . Lining both the European and Asian shores of the Bosporus are the historic yalıs , luxurious chalet mansions built by Ottoman aristocrats and elites as summer homes. Inland, north of Taksim Square is the Istanbul Central Business District ,

5265-762: The Bosporus. The settlers built an acropolis adjacent to the Golden Horn on the site of the early Thracian settlements, fueling the nascent city's economy. The city experienced a brief period of Persian rule at the turn of the 5th century BCE, but the Greeks recaptured it during the Greco-Persian Wars . Byzantium then continued as part of the Athenian League and its successor, the Second Athenian League , before gaining independence in 355 BCE. Long allied with

5382-406: The European continent and at times the largest in the world. Constantinople is generally considered to be the center and the "cradle of Orthodox Christian civilization ". Constantinople began to decline continuously after the end of the reign of Basil II in 1025. The Fourth Crusade was diverted from its purpose in 1204, and the city was sacked and pillaged by the crusaders. They established

5499-623: The European railway network in the 1880s. Modern facilities, such as a water supply network, electricity, telephones, and trams, were gradually introduced to Constantinople over the following decades, although later than to other European cities. The modernization efforts were not enough to forestall the decline of the Ottoman Empire . With the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, the Ottoman Parliament , closed since 14 February 1878,

5616-584: The European side, and close to the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge , is Emirgan Park , which was known as the Kyparades ('Cypress Forest') during the Byzantine period. In the Ottoman period, it was first granted to Nişancı Feridun Ahmed Bey in the 16th century, before being granted by Sultan Murad IV to the Safavid emir Gûne Han in the 17th century, hence the name Emirgan . The 47-hectare (120-acre) park

5733-513: The European side, near the point of the peninsula ( Sarayburnu ), there was a Thracian settlement during the early 1st millennium BCE. Modern authors have linked it to the Thracian toponym Lygos , mentioned by Pliny the Elder as an earlier name for the site of Byzantium. The history of the city proper begins around 660 BCE, when Greek settlers from Megara established Byzantium on the European side of

5850-630: The German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that the group could count on as many as 600 supporters in Germany. In another report regarding the possible German contingent, a Turkish rail worker claimed, "Istanbul was nothing. The major butchery is yet to come." Although IBDA-C is thought to have supporters throughout Western Europe, the group has not performed any significant terrorist attacks there since their alleged actions in Istanbul. The number of extremist supporters actively participating in IBDA-C's terrorist plots

5967-520: The Great effectively became the emperor of the whole of the Roman Empire in September 324. Two months later, he laid out the plans for a new, Christian city to replace Byzantium. As the eastern capital of the empire, the city was named Nova Roma ; most called it Constantinople, a name that persisted into the 20th century. On 11 May 330, Constantinople was proclaimed the capital of the Roman Empire, which

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6084-618: The Intelligence Resource Program of the Federation of American Scientists based on the 2003 Patterns of Global Terrorism report the strength of the organisation in terms of human resources remains unknown. A study carried out by the Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate General for Security over a sample of files about people convicted of being a terrorist under Turkish laws including 200 militants from

6201-523: The Istanbul Water and Sewage Administration arrived at the scenes of both attacks. Search-and-rescue teams dug survivors out from beneath the debris resulting from the explosions and sent them to nearby health institutions. A team from ZAKA coming from Israel that comprised seven people who were experts in search-and-rescue and identification participated in the work after the explosions. An Islamic militant group, IBDA-C , claimed responsibility for

6318-454: The Ottoman period, Üsküdar (then Scutari) and Kadıköy were outside the scope of the urban area, serving as tranquil outposts with seaside yalıs and gardens. But in the second half of the 20th century, the Asian side experienced major urban growth; the late development of this part of the city led to better infrastructure and tidier urban planning when compared with most other residential areas in

6435-539: The Republic's first President . A 1942 wealth tax assessed mainly on non-Muslims led to the transfer or liquidation of many businesses owned by religious minorities. The state-sanctioned 1955 Istanbul pogrom , in which hundreds of Greek men, women and children were attacked and raped and dozens murdered, led to the emigration of most of the remaining Greeks in Istanbul. Government persecution of Greeks and religious minorities, especially Christians , intensified through

6552-555: The Romans, Byzantium officially became a part of the Roman Empire in 73 CE. Byzantium's decision to side with the Roman usurper Pescennius Niger against Emperor Septimius Severus cost it dearly; by the time it surrendered at the end of 195 CE, two years of siege had left the city devastated. Five years later, Severus began to rebuild Byzantium, and the city regained—and, by some accounts, surpassed—its previous prosperity. Constantine

6669-460: The Sultan lived at a safe remove from the masses, and the wealthy and poor tended to live side by side, for the most part Istanbul was not zoned as modern cities are. Opulent houses shared the same streets and districts with tiny hovels. Those rich enough to have secluded country properties had a chance of escaping the periodic epidemics of sickness that blighted Istanbul. The Ottoman dynasty claimed

6786-517: The Turkish media solely credit al-Qaeda with the attacks, implying that IBDA-C did not have the means to carry out such a sophisticated act of terrorism. Indeed, IBDA-C showed no willingness to exercise suicide terrorism prior to November 2003. Regardless of whether or not IBDA-C actively participated in these particular attacks, the attention received provided the group with a heightened level of international infamy, as they were previously not well known at

6903-690: The attacks—Yoel Ülçer Kohen, Berta Özdoğan, Yona Romano, Annette Rubinstein, Anna Rubinstein, and Avram Varol—were held at the Ulus Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery . The six people were laid to rest in the front section of the mausoleum where 23 people killed in the 1986 attack on the Neve Shalom Synagogue were buried. A statement issued by the Office of the Istanbul Governor Public Order Operations Center on

7020-469: The authenticity of the claim is disputed. On November 29, police in Istanbul announced the arrest of a yet-unnamed man they stated had admitted to giving the order to suicide bombers to attack Beth Israel synagogue on November 15. The organisation is listed among the 12 active terrorist organisations in Turkey as of 2007 according to Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate General for Security ( Turkish police ). In December 2001, IBDA-C

7137-686: The beginning of the 21st century, indicate that Istanbul's historic peninsula was settled as far back as the 6th millennium BCE. That early settlement, important in the spread of the Neolithic Revolution from the Near East to Europe, lasted for almost a millennium before being inundated by rising water levels. The first human settlement on the Asian side, the Fikirtepe mound, is from the Copper Age period, with artifacts dating from 5500 to 3500 BCE, On

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7254-460: The blasts, but it was later determined that the attacks had been carried out by Al-Qaeda . Five days later, on 20 November, as US President George W. Bush was in the United Kingdom meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair , two more truck bombs exploded. The first attack occurred at around 10:55 a.m. ( UTC+2.00 ) with the detonation of a bomb, comprising 700 kilograms of ammonium sulfate , ammonium nitrate , and compressed fuel oil, in

7371-405: The body of a woman was found at the scene of the bombing and later to 25 when a victim receiving treatment at a hospital succumbed to their injuries. In a statement he made on 19 November, Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler announced that 25 people had died and approximately 300 people were injured as a result of the attacks. On 28 November, Istanbul Deputy Security Director Halil Yılmaz reported, in

7488-610: The bomb attacks. Interior Minister Abdülkadir Aksu , however, stated that the identified number of injured people was 277. Later the evening of the attack, a statement issued by the Istanbul Security Directorate increased the number of casualties to 23, it shortly thereafter brought the number back down to 20. The following day, Istanbul Provincial Health Director Erman Tuncer reported, again, that 23 people had died and that about 71 people, of whom four were in critical condition, continued to receive medical attention at various hospitals. The number of casualties rose to 24 on 17 November when

7605-423: The bombers may have timed the attacks to coincide with Bush's visit to the UK. On the day the attacks were carried out, the Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate issued a statement at 4:00 p.m. that 20 people had died and 257 were injured in the bombings. A few hours later, Health Minister Recep Akdağ announced that the number of deaths was 20 and that 302 people had referred to various hospitals because of

7722-420: The city , there are, in fact, more than 50 hills within the city limits. Istanbul's tallest hill, Aydos, is 537 meters (1,762 ft) high. The North Anatolian Fault , under the Sea of Marmara , is locked just south of the city. This fault caused the earthquakes in 1766 and 1894 , and a quake of at least magnitude 7.0 is very likely in the 21st century, though an earthquake with a magnitude above 7.5

7839-439: The city's climate , however. The city's summers are warm to hot and moderately dry, with an average daytime temperature of about 28 °C (82 °F), and less than 7 days of precipitation per month. Despite the generally acceptable temperature range, mid-summer in Istanbul is considered moderately uncomfortable, due to high dew points and relative humidity. Winters, meanwhile, are cool, quite rainy, and relatively snow-rich for

7956-532: The city's monuments were restored, and some, like the two Deesis mosaics in Hagia Sophia and Kariye, were created. Various economic and military policies instituted by Andronikos II Palaiologos , such as the reduction of military forces, weakened the empire and left it vulnerable to attack. In the mid-14th-century, the Ottoman Turks began a strategy of gradually taking smaller towns and cities, cutting off Constantinople's supply routes and strangling it slowly. On 29 May 1453, after an eight-week siege during which

8073-467: The city's name was officially changed to Istanbul, the Turkish rendering of εἰς τὴν Πόλιν eis tḕn Pólin 'to the City', the appellation Greek speakers used since the 11th century to colloquially refer to the city. The city served as an imperial capital for almost 1600 years: during the Byzantine (330–1204), Latin (1204–1261), late Byzantine (1261–1453), and Ottoman (1453–1922) empires. The city grew in size and influence, eventually becoming

8190-432: The city's transitional, Mediterranean-influenced humid temperate climate. Chestnut , oak , elm , linden , ash and locust comprise the most prominent temperate forest genera, while laurel , terebinth , Cercis siliquastrum , broom , red firethorn , and oak species such as Quercus cerris and Quercus coccifera are the most important species of Mediterranean and Submediterranean distribution. Apart from

8307-494: The city. Much of the Asian side of the Bosporus functions as a suburb of the economic and commercial centers in European Istanbul, accounting for a third of the city's population but only a quarter of its employment. However, Kozyatağı – Ataşehir , Altunizade , Kavacık and Ümraniye , all together having around 1.4 million sqm of class-A office space, are now important " edge cities ", i.e. corridors and nodes of business and shopping centers and of tall residential buildings. As

8424-636: The counter-revolution attempt known as the 31 March incident . A series of wars in the early 20th century, such as the Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912) and the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), plagued the ailing empire's capital and resulted in the 1913 Ottoman coup d'état , which brought the regime of the Three Pashas . The Ottoman Empire joined World War I (1914–1918) on the side of the Central Powers and

8541-761: The day of the second attacks reported that 27 people had died—11 in the attack in front of the HSBC General Directorate and 16 at the British Consulate—and more than 450 people were injured in the bombings. According to a written statement on 24 November from the Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate, 432 people had been treated and discharged from the hospital and 30 people, of whom six were in intensive care, were still receiving treatment. On 28 November, Istanbul Deputy Security Director Halil Yılmaz reported that 28 people had died in

8658-419: The expense of historical buildings. The overall population of Istanbul began to rapidly increase in the 1970s, as people from Anatolia migrated to the city to find employment in the many new factories that were built on the outskirts of the sprawling metropolis. This sudden, sharp rise in the city's population caused a large demand for housing, and many previously outlying villages and forests became engulfed into

8775-563: The explosion, and the outer wall of the consulate's front garden collapsed onto cars driving by in the street, and a fire burned in the garden itself. Buildings nearby the consulate, including the entrance to the Çiçek Passage market, and cars on the street were also badly damaged. After the attack on the HSBC building, police cordoned off the area and began collecting evidence. Electrical and gas lines were shut off, and metro services were stopped. The wounded and other personnel were evacuated from

8892-547: The external wall and surrounding shops and buildings were damaged, and passers-by were killed by the blast. A hole approximately three meters wide and two meters deep appeared at the spot where the bomb exploded. Teams from the Istanbul Metropolitan Fire Department, Health Department, Directorate of Road Maintenance, and Directorate of Cemeteries; the Istanbul Gas Distribution and Trade; and

9009-422: The failed poison gas attack in 2002. On 16 February 2007, Al-Saqa and Ilhan were convicted and sentenced to 67 consecutive life sentences , one for every victim for the bombing plus additional terms for terrorism and conspiracy, as were five other Turkish men convicted of organising the bombing: Fevzi Yitiz (for helping to build the truck bombs) and Yusuf Polat, Baki Yigit, Osman Eken and Adnan Ersoz. Seyit Ertul

9126-541: The figures allegedly from the upper echelons of the militant organization fled to Iraq after the attacks and died there, while a portion were captured by security forces. After a retrial held because the Court of Cassation reversed some of the verdicts delivered in the initial trial, 16 defendants were not sentenced to prison. The first attacks were carried out on 15 November 2003 against two synagogues in Istanbul , Turkey. At approximately 9:30 a.m. local time ( UTC+2.00 ),

9243-569: The four suicide bombers, and more than 750 were wounded in the bombings. Investigations launched in the wake of the attacks determined that Al-Qaeda had orchestrated the bombings. The criminal case that began with 69 defendants and, with additions, included 76 defendants in February 2004 regarding the attacks concluded in April 2007 with the sentencing of 49 defendants, of whom seven were sentenced to life in prison, to various periods of incarceration. Some of

9360-545: The global level. Despite Al-Qaeda 's similar aims and superior stature as an international terrorist organization, IBDA-C views itself as the quintessential Islamic revivalist movement toward which all others should dedicate their resources. In addition to committing terrorist attacks, the organization also produces propagandist literature put out in bookstores and on the Internet, which has the potential to attract new members, including those from other countries. In December 2003,

9477-476: The group, IBDA-C's activity seemed to quiet down. However, IBDA-C burst back into the headlines when it claimed responsibility for the dual synagogue bombing in Istanbul on November 15, 2003, which killed 24 and injured 255, as well as a subsequent attack on the HSBC Bank and British consulate on November 20, 2003 (see 2003 Istanbul bombings ). The second claim called the bombings a joint attack with Al Qaeda ;

9594-412: The headquarters of numerous Turkish companies, accounting for more than thirty percent of the country's economy . The first known name of the city is Byzantium ( Ancient Greek : Βυζάντιον , Byzántion ), the name given to it at its foundation by Megarian colonists around 657 BCE. Megarian colonists claimed a direct line back to the founders of the city, Byzas, the son of the god Poseidon and

9711-584: The investigations. Shortly after the two attacks, a warning of an additional bombing at the Galleria Shopping Center in Bakırköy began to spread; the Akmerkez, Galleria, and Carousel shopping centers were evacuated, although the warnings ended up being baseless. The bombers appeared to have waited for the traffic lights in front of the HSBC headquarters to turn red to maximize the effects. Police say that

9828-510: The last Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed VI , was declared persona non grata . Leaving aboard the British warship HMS Malaya on 17 November 1922, he went into exile and died in Sanremo , Italy, on 16 May 1926. The Treaty of Lausanne was signed on 24 July 1923, and the occupation of Constantinople ended with the departure of the last forces of the Allies from the city on 4 October 1923. Turkish forces of

9945-613: The last Roman emperor, Constantine XI , was killed, Sultan Mehmed II "the Conqueror" captured Constantinople . Sultan Mehmed declared Constantinople the new capital of the Ottoman Empire . Hours after the fall of the city, the sultan rode to the Hagia Sophia and summoned an imam to proclaim the shahada , converting the grand cathedral into an imperial mosque due to the city's refusal to surrender peacefully. Mehmed declared himself as

10062-535: The military staff, Gen Ibrahim Fırtına, ex-air force chief, and former naval commander Admiral Özden Örnek, along with 35 other ex-military personnel were arrested and questioned concerning their roles in Operation Sledgehammer , of which the bombings were reportedly a part. Istanbul Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey , straddling the Bosporus Strait , the boundary between Europe and Asia. It

10179-410: The murders were not immediately reported by the press, claiming that they also had plans to attack a TV talk show host and columnist named Savas Ay in order to heighten publicity for their organization. IBDA-C is not an organization to be taken lightly, but it can perhaps be said to have a dubious future as its leader, Erdiş, sits in prison, and the group has no clearly defined hierarchical structure. By

10296-530: The natural flora, Platanus orentalis , horse chestnut , cypress and stone pine make up the introduced species that got acclimatized to Istanbul. In a study that examined urban flora in Kartal , a total of 576 plant taxa were recorded; of those 477 were natural and 99 were exotic and cultivated. The most prominent native taxa were in the Asteraceae family (50 species), while the most diverse exotic plant family

10413-617: The new Kayser-i Rûm , the Ottoman Turkish equivalent of the Caesar of Rome, and the Ottoman state was reorganized into an empire. Following the capture of Constantinople, Mehmed II immediately set out to revitalize the city. Cognizant that revitalization would fail without the repopulation of the city, Mehmed II welcomed everyone–foreigners, criminals, and runaways– showing extraordinary openness and willingness to incorporate outsiders that came to define Ottoman political culture. He also invited people from all over Europe to his capital, creating

10530-550: The nymph Ceroëssa. Modern excavations have raised the possibility that the name Byzantium might reflect the sites of native Thracian settlements that preceded the fully-fledged town. Constantinople comes from the Latin name Constantinus , after Constantine the Great , the Roman emperor who refounded the city in 324 CE. Constantinople remained the most common name for the city in the West until

10647-537: The one in Tarlabaşı ; some of these projects, like the one in Sulukule , have faced criticism. The Turkish government also has ambitious plans for an expansion of the city west and northwards on the European side in conjunction with the new Istanbul Airport , opened in 2019; the new parts of the city will include four different settlements with specified urban functions, housing 1.5 million people. Istanbul does not have

10764-454: The organisation and the four other currently active Islamic organisations (see reference 1) 2.5% of the members are aged 10 to 14, 72.5% 15 to 24, 17% 25 to 29, 6% 30 to 34, and 2% 35 to 64. University graduates make up 22.5% of the members, high-school graduates 40%, secondary-school graduates 14%, primary-school graduates 19%, literate non-graduates 2.5% and illiterates 1.5%. 2003 Istanbul bombings The 2003 Istanbul bombings were

10881-470: The rear entrance of the building. The fire department, civil defense, provincial health directorate, police, and consulate officials dispatched to the area began search-and-rescue operations. Police also cordoned off the area surrounding the consulate. Within a day, Interior Minister Abdülkadir Aksu , Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler , and Istanbul Provincial Security Director Celalettin Cerrah participated in

10998-409: The same token, the lack of organized centrality makes the group more elusive and difficult to eliminate, much like al-Qaeda. IBDA-C will continue to be a threat if it is able to sustain external spheres of support, especially from other terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda. After Erdiş's arrest and subsequent conviction on December 29, 1998, followed by the detention of many lower-ranking figures in

11115-402: The second attacks, shortly thereafter later raising this figure to 30. Two months later, on 13 January 2004, the number of casualties in the second two attacks rose to 31, when Sefer Gündoğdu, a 35-year-old father of three, passed away at around 5:00 p.m. at Şişli Etfal Hospital after undergoing a series of surgeries. Turkish actor and singer Kerem Yılmazer died in the HSBC bombing as he

11232-507: The status of caliphate in 1517, with Constantinople remaining the capital of this last caliphate for four centuries. Suleiman the Magnificent 's reign from 1520 to 1566 was a period of especially great artistic and architectural achievement; chief architect Mimar Sinan designed several iconic buildings in the city, while Ottoman arts of ceramics , stained glass , calligraphy , and miniature flourished. The population of Constantinople

11349-547: The synagogue attacks revealed nine buildings that were severely damaged, three that were moderately damaged, and eight that were somewhat damaged, amounting to damages of TL  37 billion (equivalent to approximately US$ 25 million in November 2003). In Şişli, of the 52 buildings examined, none were severely damaged, seven were moderately damaged, and 12 were somewhat damaged, with damages totaling TL 33 billion (about US$ 22.5 million in November 2003). There

11466-485: The time of the bombing collapsed. Body parts were flung from the site of the explosion, some even being found as far as 400 meters away at a petrol station. Approximately five minutes later, at around 11:00 a.m., another bomb-laden truck drove through security and detonated in front of the British Consulate on Meşrutiyet Avenue in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district. Deaths and injuries were immediately reported from

11583-404: The waters of Istanbul has dwindled in the recent decades. From around 60 different fish species recorded in the 1970s only 20 of them still survive in the Bosporus. Common bottlenose dolphin (Turkish: afalina ), short-beaked common dolphin (Turkish: tırtak ) and harbor porpoise (Turkish: mutur ) make up the marine mammals presently found in the Bosporus and surrounding waters, though since

11700-555: The wild land mammals Istanbul hosts a sizeable stray animal population. The presence of feral cats in Istanbul ( Turkish : sokak kedisi ) is noted to be very prevalent, with estimates ranging from a hundred thousand to over a million stray cats. The feral cats in the city have gained widespread media and public attention and are considered to be symbols of the city. Rose-ringed parakeet colonies are present in urban areas, similar to other European cities as feral parrots , and considered as invasive species . Air pollution in Turkey

11817-443: Was Rosaceae (16 species). Turkish Straits and Sea of Marmara play a vital role for migrating fish and other marine animals between Mediterranean, Marmara and Black Sea. Bosporus hosts pelagic , demersal and semipelagic fish species and more than 130 different taxa have been documented in the strait. Bluefish , bonito , sea bass , horse mackerel and anchovies compose the economically important species. Fish diversity in

11934-455: Was 570,000 by the end of the 18th century. A period of rebellion at the start of the 19th century led to the rise of the progressive Sultan Mahmud II and eventually to the Tanzimat period, which produced political reforms and allowed new technology to be introduced to the city. Bridges across the Golden Horn were constructed during this period, and Constantinople was connected to the rest of

12051-599: Was a total of TL 110 billion (approximately US$ 75 million in November 2003) in damages and 33 cars—15 in Beyoğlu and 18 in Şişli—were made unusable due to the first bombings. A total of 113 buildings were damaged in the second round of attacks. Beyloğlu Municipal Mayor Kadir Topbaş announced that 38 buildings, of which 25 were considered historic, were damaged in Beyloğlu. Beşiktaş Municipal Mayor Yusuf Namoğlu reported that 75 buildings were damaged in Levent, including

12168-437: Was founded in 1970 by Salih İzzet Erdiş, better known as Salih Mirzabeyoğlu . The group moved from rhetoric to violence in the 1990s, culminating in a series of 90 bombings and attacks in 1994. Salih İzzet Erdiş , a spiritual follower of Kısakürek, was captured on Dec. 31, 1998, and sentenced to death in April 2001 for "attempting to overthrow Turkey's secular state by force". His lawyer, Ahmet Arslan, maintained that his client

12285-597: Was going to the NTV building, where he worked as a voice actor on the Life Style program at the TV channel. Yılmazer's wife, actress Göksel Kortay , was on a live program on TV8 when the news of the bombings broke. The 58-year-old British consul general and career diplomat Roger Short also perished in the attack. Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler , in a statement on 19 November, announced that inspections of 58 buildings in Beyoğlu after

12402-569: Was in 1730 during the reign of Sultan Mahmud I . In modern Turkish , the name is written as İstanbul , with a dotted İ, as the Turkish alphabet distinguishes between a dotted and dotless I . In English, the stress is on the first or last syllable, but in Turkish it is on the second syllable. A person from the city is an İstanbullu (plural İstanbullular ); Istanbulite is used in English. Neolithic artifacts, uncovered by archeologists at

12519-510: Was labeled an "illegal organization" by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus . It is also one of the 48 groups and entities to which European Union 's Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism has applied. In April 2003, the U.S. Department of State (DoS) designated the group as a "terrorist group" in their annual Patterns of Global Terrorism report. According to information provided by

12636-493: Was later owned by Khedive Isma'il Pasha of Ottoman Egypt in the 19th century. Emirgan Park is known for its diversity of plants and an annual tulip festival is held there since 2005. The AKP government's decision to replace Taksim Gezi Park with a replica of the Ottoman era Taksim Military Barracks (which was transformed into the Taksim Stadium in 1921, before being demolished in 1940 for building Gezi Park) sparked

12753-403: Was later permanently divided between the two sons of Theodosius I upon his death on 17 January 395, when the city became the capital of the empire; during the following millennium of Roman history the state is commonly referred to as the "Byzantine Empire". The establishment of Constantinople was one of Constantine's most lasting accomplishments, shifting Roman power eastward as the city became

12870-452: Was named after Mehmed II ( Turkish : Fatih Sultan Mehmed ), corresponds to what was the whole of Constantinople until the Ottoman conquest; today it is the capital district and called the historic peninsula of Istanbul on the southern shore of the Golden Horn , across the medieval Genoese citadel of Galata on the northern shore. The Genoese fortifications in Galata were largely demolished in

12987-611: Was no more than "a man of thought", arguing that there was a lack of concrete evidence supporting the charges. Erdiş's death sentence was later commuted when Ankara abolished the death penalty in August 2002. In August 2003, Erdiş claimed responsibility for his crimes and attributed his actions to "mind control", seeking help from the Forensic Medicine Institute in Turkey. In March 2004, a Turkish court sentenced Erdiş to 20-years in prison for using handmade explosives and weapons in

13104-523: Was part of the investigation said: "They planned and carried out the attack independently after receiving the blessing of bin Laden." However, in 2010, Turkish investigators accused three of the highest-ranking military leaders at the time of the bombing of orchestrating the attacks in the hopes of destabilising the government and prompting a military coup. Gen Çetin Dogan, head of the 1st Army and then deputy chief of

13221-477: Was reopened 30 years later on 23 July 1908, which marked the beginning of the Second Constitutional Era . The civil strife and political uncertainties in the Ottoman Empire during the months after the revolution encouraged Austria-Hungary to annex Bosnia and Bulgaria to declare its independence in a jointly coordinated move on 5 October 1908. Sultan Abdul Hamid II was deposed in 1909, following

13338-585: Was reportedly involved in a kidnapping, and was later killed by coalition forces in Fallujah . Bac's location remains undetermined. Other reporting indicates that Bac was suspected of preparing the bombs with Fevzi Yitiz, and that Akdas and Ibrahim Kus participated in a meeting with bin Laden in 2002. Al-Saqa had already been tried in absentia in Jordan for his part, along with al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi , in

13455-471: Was seen as the pioneer of "ideal Islamic society" by the founders of IBDA-C. The 2003 Istanbul bombings provide the strongest implication of ties between IBDA-C and Al-Qaeda, although the exact nature of their cooperation remains unclear. Al-Qaeda may have acted merely as an outside support base, or possibly in tandem with IBDA-C in terms of planning and execution. Some, on the other hand, assert that IBDA-C had no involvement at all; contradicting reports from

13572-414: Was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment for leading an al-Qaeda cell, and Obysi was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months for al-Qaeda membership, forgery and bomb-making. Of the other individuals who were charged, 29 were sentenced to 6 years and 3 months for aiding and abetting al-Qaeda, 10 were sentenced to 3 years and 9 months membership in al-Qaeda, and 26 were acquitted. A Turkish intelligence official who

13689-455: Was ultimately defeated. The deportation of Armenian intellectuals on 24 April 1915 was among the major events which marked the start of the Armenian genocide during WWI. Due to Ottoman and Turkish policies of Turkification and ethnic cleansing , the city's Christian population declined from 450,000 to 240,000 between 1914 and 1927. The Armistice of Mudros was signed on 30 October 1918 and

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