All about istanbul

The city has been magical for centuries, straddling the beautiful waterway known as the Bosporus, with one foot in Asia and the other in Europe. "No other city can claim to be a capital of three empires," says Turkey's ambassador to China Murat Salim Esenli, referring to the Eastern Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods. The city's 360-degree outlook, and Turkey's long standing as a bridge between cultures, will be in the spotlight this week as leaders from Kabul, Islamabad and Beijing arrive for a series of meetings on regional security ahead of the London conference on Afghanistan on Thursday.