Constantinople

Istanbul Municipality's subsidiary, City Lines, is planning to introduce mini ferries designed to accommodate a limited number of passengers into public service starting July 15.

Traffic was suspended in Turkey's Bosphorus on Wednesday after a tugboat had an operation failure during towing of a ship at the northern entrance of the strait that runs through Istanbul, shipping agent Tribeca said.

Two other tugboats were sent to assist the issue, the agency said. [Reuters]

The Istanbul Municipality is set to embark on a new urban transformation project, targeting nearly 7,000 buildings identified as high-risk in anticipation of a potential major earthquake in the region.

Istanbul, Türkiye's cultural, financial and commercial capital, is hoping to welcome a total of 20 million visitors this year.

Last year, the megacity welcomed 17.4 million foreign tourists, up from more than 16 million visitors in 2022.

Three Turkish cities have made notable appearances on the 2024 Happy City Index prepared by the U.K.-based Institute for Quality of Life.

Istanbul, Türkiye's bustling metropolis, ranks 197th, while the coastal gems of İzmir and Antalya secure the 222nd and 246th positions, respectively.

Numerous historical structures in Istanbul are still standing resiliently after more than a century of construction, even though the city's relatively new earthquake-prone buildings number in the hundreds of thousands.

The country wrapped up the Eid al-Adha on June 19, with Istanbul witnessing a surge in visitors during the final day.

Although the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, traditionally spans four days, its extension to nine days has prompted many in the country to make travel plans to the southern coasts.

The Golden Horn, the binding inlet between the Bosphorus Strait and the Marmara Sea, has become severely polluted, posing a significant threat to the marine life and ecosystem of the Marmara Sea, Istanbul Environmental Council Secretary-General Zafer Murat Çetintaş has said.

The U.S. Department of Commerce is bringing more than 120 U.S. businesses to Europe and Eurasia for the 14th annual Trade Winds as Türkiye and the U.S. seek to boost bilateral trade to $100 billion.

This year's Trade Winds centers around a three-day business forum from May 13-15 in Istanbul.

Responding to calls that his scheduled visit to Ankara on Monday should be postponed due to the conversion of the Chora monastery in Istanbul into a mosque, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed on Wednesday that this would not be the correct course of action as "open channels must be maintained."