Underlined While Reading-4

Book excerpt: I was born in December 1954 or January 1955 (‘when the first snow fell’) as the third child of a Kurdish family living in a remote village of Eastern Turkey. My father died of tuberculosis at the age of 31 when I was six years old. My mother was 34, never married again, dedicated her life to her children. From the moment I learned how to read and write I became a passionate reader of the books; books of literature, books of history, books of travel, books of philosophy, books of memoirs, books of biographies, books of politics… This book contains excerpts on Constantinople (today Istanbul) that I noted while reading. As per Philip Mansel, Constantinople was “the city of world’s desire” and “one of the world’s most exotic and exciting cities.” For English nobleman Sir Alfred Rawlinson, "Going down the Bosphorus was a wonderful sight. I have seen no place in the world like that.” Lord Byron wrote in a letter to his mother, “I have seen the ruins of Athens, of Ephesus, and Delphi. I have traversed great part of Turkey, and some of Asia; but never beheld a work of nature or art which yielded an impression like the prospect on each side from the Seven Towers to the end of the Golden Horn.” I have seen Constantinople for the first time in the year 1973 and fall in love with this city of grandeur, life, love, memory and beauty… Sezai Arli Doha, April 2021