European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 24, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Ancient St. Sophia a once a Christian Church later a moslem mosque a now houses a museum. The above goods line the aisles inside Istanbul s grand Bazaar which has 4,000-plus shops. Below a selection of turkish plates at a Vendor s stall in the grand a amps Susan Harris wb8iw?ramsm$s555ss5i5mis&s photos by Michael Abrams by Barbara Shea mews Lay after a 10-minute taxi drive from the Istanbul Airport a Whirlpool of traffic flicked us from the fast Lane into a Maze of twisting alleys. We emerged moments later in the Center of a teeming Metropolis that i recognized As ancient byzantium. Along the bosporus the storied waterway that bisects the turkish City the soaring domes and minarets of scores of mosques seemed an almost fanciful backdrop from a bygone age. Byzantium became constantinople then modern Istanbul a a City where the centuries still ebb and flow. Around the Cornucopia shaped Harbor known As the Golden Horn vendors served Tea from ornate Samovar on their backs Shoeshine men and boys worked at antique pedestals and merchants boisterously traded in everything from evil Eye amulets to intricately Woven carpets much As they have for some 2,000 years. I rubbed my eyes As surreal images swirled about like phantoms conjured by a magic lamp women swathed in veils mingled with others in Chic designer fashions Pushcart piled with fresh fruit and baked goods vied with cars and buses on the twisting streets streamlined hydrofoils skimmed past chugging ferries that serve As the main link Between two continents Europe and Asia and two seas the Black sea and the sea of Marmara. The sounds of Commerce swelled haunting music filled every silence and piercing the cacophony was the moslem Call to prayer a wails broadcast five times daily from atop every mosque often barely audible above the babble of 7 million voices. Such is the Happy Jumble that is Istanbul. For All the bedlam however an Aura of old world Courtesy prevails. Taxi Drivers Don t scream murderously at the Pushcart. Vendors Don t pester tourists to make a Sale. Even within the frenetic labyrinth of the Bazaar you Are treated As a respected guest. Stop to consider a Purchase and you re offered Tea and Friendly if halting conversation. Ask directions and passers by often will do an about face and walk with you until they re sure you can t make a wrong turn. Add to this agreeably exotic atmosphere the fact that Turkey also offers tasty food modern hotels Safe streets Swiss style cleanliness drinkable water worthy shopping myriad beaches incomparable archaeological Sites and All at some of the lowest prices in Western Europe and the one perplexing question is this where Are the americans i encountered barely a handful of americans As i roamed Turkey in Peak tourist season last summer. British German scandinavian and other european vacationers abounded but american visitors Are so rare that not once in trying to figure out what country i was from did anyone even think of guessing the United states. According to government statistics americans make up Only 6 percent of Turkey s 2.9 million annual tourist contingent. Why As my Friend Henry said Only half feigning horror when i told him my vacation destination Quot just mention Turkey and i get recent headlines have reported occasional outbreaks of terrorism by kurd in Southeast Turkey but that area is nowhere near the Normal tourist Trail. Some memories go Back to world War i when vast numbers of armenians died at the hands of the ottoman turks. Most americans however timid tourists in the Best of times simply Are leery about travelling in a moslem country that Borders the soviet Union Iran Iraq Syria Bulgaria and Greece a a group of nations Seldom represented on the Good neighbor Page of any . Newspaper. The country has come a Long Way in the Hal Century since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk the revered founder of modern Turkey banned polygamy gave women the right to vote 10 years before 8 stripes Magazine May 24, 1990
