Ara City Radio

City Scenes is our weekly dive into the music scenes of different cities around the world. Each week we’re moving through the alphabet and this week we find ourselves in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul is a city in Turkey with 16 million inhabitants. Istanbul holds a special significance in that in many ways it is the place where east meets west - in both geography and culture. Istanbul sits on the Bosphorus straight, a body of water that separates the continents of Europe and Asia and so the city and its residents are formed by this meeting and melting of European and Asian influences. It’s also a city that is steeped in History. During the Roman period it was called Constantinople and stood as the capital of the eastern roman empire and then the ottoman empire. Due to its strategic location it has always been a hub for trade and transport attracting people, produce and cultures from across the world. All of this has given the city a hugely dense cultural identity which has undoubtedly affected the music tha