Istanbul selected as 2010 cultural capital of Europe

[Equinox]

Why not?

Even the Mosques, which people claim are completely alien to Europe, are modeled on the Hagia Sophia / Ayasofya of Istanbul.

[Klärchen]

Not only Istanbul, but also Pecs in Hungary and Essen together with the whole Ruhr area:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWUmFPtOsxs[/YOUTUBE]

[Monolith]

He blamed them for making Greeks hairy.

Err, why?? Sorry, but I find that hilarious

[The Khagan]

Err, why?? Sorry, but I find that hilarious

Haha, I dunno, I didn't question the guy, he was 6 foot fuck and lifted weights like a badass in high school.

Those Greek marbles don't have any body hair on em lul.

[poiuytrewq0987]

Wow thank you , I always thought it were called Istanbul even before the Turks arrived...

Ignorance on your part, it was originally called Byzantium by Thracians and later Constantinople by Constantine I the Great (who made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire). Later it was called Istanbul by the Turks and even the name didn't become official until the fall of the Ottomans and the Turkish War of Independence which occurred in 1923.

Culturally, Konstantinopol (the way Slavs spell this city) used to be European however the city hasn't been in the hands of Europeans for a very long time. Sure, there may be European relics in this city but the people who inhabitant this city are culturally Muslim, and racially non-European. Thus this city shouldn't be considered European, culturally or racially until it is back in the hands of the Europeans.