The identity of a mature Turkey

Istanbul became the junction point on international waterways in the 19th century. Before anything else, the Suez Canal had drawn a portion of the heavy traffic in the northeast Atlantic to this region. Other than that, Russia and the Danube basin's entry to the Mediterranean traffic also created an effect.  

As a safe port, Istanbul became more than a place where ships merely anchored in the Golden Horn and its basin and disembarked with rowboats. Passenger liners started docking at Galata Port. 

In that period, the new republic built its first work, which was necessitated by the increased passenger traffic. A passenger lounge that suited the city was built in accordance with a project by the architect Rebii Gordon. 
Instantly, this passenger lounge became an indispensable part of Istanbul's life and history. The customs were here; the police were here. Together with the passenger lounge, its neighborhood, Karaköy, was immediately filled with interesting restaurants and shops. People started pouring in here from all corners of the world.

For instance, in the 1940s, when the members of the Ottoman dynasty were banned from entering Turkey, the wife of the Egyptian crown prince, Neslişah Sultan, entered the lounge, and a spontaneous scene erupted. There were those who saluted her and welcomed her saying, "Welcome to your country," as well as there were certain others who were grumbling at a distance. Nevertheless, the fact and the image that Turkey was now an experienced and mature country became almost synonymous with this hall.  

If we portrayed all those who passed through Gorbon's passenger lounge, it would be similar to New York's Ellis Island. At the end of World War II, refugees coming from the Soviet Union and Eastern...