....QUERIES:....Where is your Middle East?

A very Euro-centric term "Middle-East" survived anyhow as a geographic description long after it was claimed to be politically incorrect. But in recent years it meant a smaller and smaller part of the world, namely the Palestine. Does Middle East only means "bullets, missiles and Intifada"? The answer is No! There are other parts of this geographical entity with a lot to tell to both would be travelers and armchair adventurers. For example: Istanbul. It is a photographer's paradise with all its contradictions, colors and 2300 years of history. Despite its 12 Millions of populations it is the safest among the similar sized cities.

I would like to offer an article of 2000-3000 words. My aim (it is a bit of blasphemy) is to portray a different, somehow nicer atmosphere in the Middle East. I would like to give the real atmosphere of the city with many anecdotes from history such as Jewish soldiers fighting in the Ottoman army in WWI (and dyeing for their Sultans!), or the underground cafés, pubs, youngsters with heavy metal inclinations, Ferrari's zooming in the night…

The article will have two sets of pictures: The first ones will show the beautiful clichés of the city, the fantastic scenery of Bosphorus etc. Even the most basic readers will easily recognize Istanbul. The second ones will show synagogues, underground people, high life, fashion and multitudes of the other aspects of life. Most of the readers will see them for the first time and hopefully will be shocked a little bit. These sets have to be blended correctly.