Istanbul

Standing at the historic gateway to the Muslim world, President Bush yesterday sought to assure Muslim nations that he does not want to force American-style democracy on them, as hundreds of protesters clashed with police nearby. In a speech to university students in Istanbul, Bush said Islamic countries should shape democracies that fit local cultural and religious values. He delivered his remarks the day after power shifted to an interim government in Iraq, but his focus was on a far more ambitious plan to spread democracy throughout the Middle East.

President Bush worked yesterday to smooth over past differences with Turkey, but a large antiwar demonstration in Istanbul and the threatened beheading of three Turkish hostages in Iraq cast a shadow over his visit. Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets to protest against Bush and Turkey's role as host of a 26-nation NATO summit that begins today. The NATO leaders are expected to approve Bush's request for help training Iraqi security forces so that they can take over from U.S. troops.

President Bush won European support yesterday for his plan for more NATO involvement in Iraq and expressed confidence that "the bitter differences of the war are over" with European allies. But after meeting with leaders from the 25-nation European Union, Bush acknowledged that the United States' image had suffered abroad. Polls in Europe show widespread opposition to the Iraq war and pervasive disdain for Bush. Despite those differences, the European Union joined Bush in urging NATO to help train and equip Iraqi security forces so that they can replace U.S. occupation troops in Iraq.

The question - would you return? - is a good way to rate a restaurant. A boldface "yes" sums up the Turkish Restaurant: The Family Place, a small BYO overlooking the traffic of Bristol Pike. Its location and straightforward name might be off-putting at first. But once you're through the door and seated at the windowside tables (all of which have a view of a lovely lake beyond the flash of passing vehicles), the magical transportation begins. Spices appear to waft through the dining room in time with the piped-in Turkish music.

Every month or so, Center City resident Nursal Hicdonmez and her friends Yonca and Yasemin Agatan, who live in Ardmore, get together to cook a feast of home. All three women are from Turkey - Hicdonmez from the Aegean coastal town of Izmir and the Agatan sisters from Istanbul, for centuries the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Though it's been more than 15 years since they've lived in their native land, a meal of Turkish delicacies is all it takes to conjure the joys of their heritage.

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair denounced yesterday's bombings in Istanbul that killed at least 27 people, saying such terrorist attacks were examples of why the United States and United Kingdom went to war in Iraq. Hours later, 100,000 whistle-blowing, horn-blaring demonstrators surged through central London to protest Bush's presence and the war. Speaking earlier at a news conference, both leaders said the Istanbul attacks, which British Foreign Minister Jack Straw linked to al-Qaeda, would not deter them from transforming Iraq into a free, democratic nation run by its people.

After learning about the suicide bombings at two synagogues, Neve Shalom and Beth Israel, in Istanbul on Saturday, I had a terrible sense of d?j? vu. I began sending e-mails seeking answers to two questions: Had any friends or acquaintances been hurt or killed? Luckily, no. And second, who were the bombers? Istanbul, and by extension Turkey, has become my second home. I know Istanbul's streets and neighborhoods as well as the neighborhoods of Philadelphia. And because I know people of many faiths - Jewish, Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, devout and moderate Muslims - I have put great hope in Turkey as an example to the West that there is a bright future for a predominantly Muslim country with a secular constitution.

Hakan Kaynaroglu remembers searching for a friend amid the rubble in Istanbul. The apartment building where the business associate lived had been turned around by the force of an earthquake that killed 17,000 and left one of Turkey's major cities in ruins. "When I got there, he was dead. I felt nothing at the time," Kaynaroglu said of the August 1999 disaster. "I just kept thinking, 'What can I do?' " Two years later, Kaynaroglu has moved to the United States and lives in Coatesville with his wife, Pat Hawn Kaynaroglu, one of the area's best-known dog trainers.

Onur Yilmaz went to Turkey last year to try to make an impression on one of the professional soccer clubs there. He left the country feeling fortunate to be alive. Now a senior at Delran, Yilmaz did not play high school soccer last season because he was chasing his professional dream. What he did not realize was that he was going to a country that would soon be ravaged by a devastating earthquake. On Aug. 8, 1999, Yilmaz traveled from the United States to Turkey, where he had spent part of his early childhood.

Vernon, a cruise veteran from Texas whose last name I never learned, gave me the lowdown: "Some cruises are for relaxing. Some are for seeing things. "This one is definitely for seeing things. " Vernon delivered this brief cruise philosophy as we sat outside a roadside cafe in Corinth, Greece. We had just gotten off a tour bus to gape at the century-old Corinth canal, an engineering marvel that connects the Saronic Gulf and Aegean Sea, and were taking a 10-minute break before proceeding to the vast Roman ruins a few miles away.