Anisa Kuanova, UN employee

There are many places I have not visited, but few of those that I have would I wish to return to over and over again. Istanbul is one of the cities I love most in all the world. If there is a chance to be here, even for a couple of hours in between connecting flights, I will always choose this route, rather than pass through Frankfurt or Moscow. I presume that my love and empathy for this place stems from its explosive mixture of eastern and western cultures, which are harmoniously entwined in Turkey’s largest city. Istanbul, which has lived through the Roman and Byzantine eras as well as the Ottoman Empire, can’t stop drawing people to it. Every time I spend a moment with a cup of Turkish tea listening to eastern melodies on the shores of the Bosporus, I know for certain I will return to Istanbul again and again.