Constantinople

A boat reportedly carrying migrants has sunken while crossing the Bosphorus leaving 24 people dead and an unknown number missing, authorities say.

The incident happened off Istanbul's northern coast where the strait meets the Black Sea early on November 3, according to Turkish media outlets.

The relief of local activists after the mosque construction in Istanbul’s protected Validebağ grove was halted has proven short-lived, with Mayor Kadir Topbaş announcing that the court order for a stay of execution had been reversed following the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s appeal.

The head of Turkey’s top religious body has become involved in the heated debate on efforts to build a mosque on a grove in Istanbul Mehmet Görmez, head of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), has become involved in the heated debate on efforts to build a mosque on a grove on Istanbul’s Anatolian side, saying "love for prayer and love for nature should not be compared."<

Never shy about the spectacle, the Ottoman Empire’s leaders were all presented with the sword of Osman, an act to show the legitimacy of rule Eyüp is a small village on the south, southwestern side of the Golden Horn outside the walls of Constantinople or the “Old City,” as it is sometimes known.

Soğukçeşme Street, situated between Topkapı Palace and Hagia Sophia, has been rented out to a local business group, with the goal of turning it into a luxury hotel hub through an 80 million euro investment.

Soğukçeşme Street, situated between Topkapı Palace and Hagia Sophia, has been rented out to a local business group, with the goal of turning it into a luxury hotel hub through an 80 million euro investment.

The mosque-cathedral of Cordoba and the Hagia Sophia of Istanbul – both magnificent buildings – were victims of the geopolitical standoff of medieval times and the egos of the new conquerors who wanted to certify their victories and assert their religious superiority.

The early morning prayers of several thousand of devout Muslims outside the Hagia Sophia Museum Saturday (May 31) sent multiple messages to everybody who is trying to decipher the complexity of present Turkish politics.

A large group of people, who demand Istanbul’s monumental Hagia Sophia to be turned into a mosque again, gathered in front of the museum in the early hours of May 31, before offering their morning prayer there. 

Anatolia Youth Association (AGD) had made a call for the event that came at a time when several radical groups have been discussing the status of the museum. 

The highest spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I (l), is received by German President Joachim Gauck at Bellevue Palace in Berlin.