City of Izmir

Izmir is the modern name for the city of Smyrna in ancient times.  It is about 3 million people.  Recent excavations indicate that there have been human habitations here for 8000 years.  The city is growing rapidly as many rural people from Eastern Turkey (many of them Kurds) migrate to the west.  Much of the unplanned urbanization has resulted in some substandard housing that the government is working to replace with more modern apartment complexes.  Our guide also noted that many of the old bazaars are being replaced by modern shopping malls.  He said he was a bit saddened by this.

Our guide was politically minded and noted that current times in Turkey were transition times from "old" to "new" Turkey with more democratization and a demilitarization of the political process.  He noted several times throughout the day that minorities in the country had been discriminated against in the past and he found that very upsetting and was glad to see that that was gradually changing as minorities got more rights.  He also noted that Ankara and Istanbul have mayors from the  AKP party (same as the Prime Minister), but that Izmir's mayor is from the Republic party.  This might explain the "protest" flags that we have seen on many apartment buildings in this city. (The one with an image of Kemal Ataturk, the first president).  This is supposed to symbolize that the protestors are true to his ideals (of a modern and secular Turkey).

Our guide (and previous guides) have shown lots of regional pride.  In Izmir, he remarked several times that Izmir is underrated by the guide books, and underfunded by the government.  He clearly loves his city and wants everyone to see how great it is.