[upquark]

> The Greeks, Jews and Armenians left a long time ago

"Left" is an understatement: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massacres_in_Turkey

> Still I wouldn't qualify Istanbul as a multi-cultural city.

I have this theory that social entities, be it countries, ethnicities, or other types of groups, end up with slogans and myths that are designed to counteract the reality about the group. What with America's "land of freedom" and Russia's "wide and generous Russian soul". Similarly, Turkey's "multiculturalism and tolerance". It's part marketing, part self-delusion therapy on the social entity's part to keep it from disintegrating...