[antisthenes]

Some points in the article are hit and miss, but mostly correct.

For example, Istanbul is flourishing because it's the Turkish capital, so it necessarily is the most dense and rich city in the country. The high trust is a positive factor, but plenty of more rural cities and towns in Turkey look quite dumpy (perhaps not as bad a Philly, though)

The pictures don't really support that either. They depict a fairly average state of urban infrastructure, nothing particularly inviting or welcoming. The people look friendly though, as the culture actively discourages drug use and vice.

[koreth1]

> Istanbul is flourishing because it's the Turkish capital

The capital of Turkey is Ankara, not Istanbul.

[esafak]

And Turkey is definitely not a high trust country.

https://ourworldindata.org/trust

[Georgelemental]

Those one-question surveys are often too simplistic, don't reflect people's real attitudes or behavior wrt trust.

[esafak]

Fair enough. I could not put a number on them, but I can confirm Middle Eastern countries are low trust. I do not think this is a controversial point.

[Georgelemental]

Yes, the surveys are far from useless either. But for example, I think China's high trust number is too reductive. From what I have heard (never been there)—violence/property crime are rare in China, you can maybe leave your door unlocked, people are polite, etc. But people worry about the doctor overcharging you, students cheating on exams, corruption in the government, etc.

[bergie]

Istanbul is a big city, but is not the capital. It was the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and before that the East Roman Empire, though.

[pfannkuchen]

Too close to the border?

[em-bee]

constantinople was occupied by the allies after WWI, causing the turkish resistance to set up headquarters in angora which was later renamed to ankara. after the war of independence they decided to make ankara the capital of the new republic

[esafak]

The name Ankara was in use by the Seljuks and then the Ottomans since the 16th century, according to Wikipedia:

https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankara_(isim)