Avcı

Going beyond well-trodden hotspots, a new smartphone app will help visitors to Turkey's largest city discover the metropolis' rich multicultural legacy through guided walking tours.

The app, called KarDes ("kardesh") -- meaning "map" in Armenian and "sibling" in Turkish -- was launched last week by the Istanbul-based Hrant Dink Foundation.

Avcı said the rumors that the AKM, a contested arts and culture venue located at the heart of Istanbul's Taksim Square, would be turned into a shopping mall are "not true."