Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the city's festival circuit, which is growing in size and status and is now one of the busiest
in Europe.
Unfortunately, many of the city's cultural luminaries have fallen foul of the country's
restrictive laws against insulting the nation and its religion. Writers Orhan Pamuk, Elif Şa-
fak and Perihan Mağden have all been charged in the past, and composer and pianist Fazıl
Say is due to stand trial in October 2012.
And Some Dodgy Developments
The city's skyline is in many ways its signature, but in the past decade some modern - and
mind-blowingly ugly - developments have been added to it. In order to accommodate this
'urban regeneration' some residents - a good percentage of whom, critics have noted, are
members of minority social groups - have been forcibly removed from their homes. Local
environmental and heritage activists are quick to point out that many of the developments
are being built by developers with strong ties to the ruling AKP party.
