A seasonal mission to Istanbul’s faithful, including those who worship Tony Blair

Think of this as a two-for-one Christmas special, a City Life column gift-wrapped inside Any Other Business. The city is Istanbul, where I am on a mission — in the steps of Pope Benedict, as it were — to salute loyal expatriate Spectator readers. And what a life this city offers. ‘Very cosmopolitic!’ exclaimed Mustafa the driver, forcing his way through impossible jams. Force your own way through the evening throng in Istiklâl Caddesi, Istanbul’s Oxford Street, and you might be in Milan or Barcelona; watch Bosphorus ferries at night from a penthouse restaurant, and you might be in Hong Kong; talk to businessmen about the booming real-estate market, and you could be in any new-rich city on the planet. But contemplate the soaring dome of the Blue Mosque, as His Holiness and I have just done, and you gain a sense of where you really are: Istanbul is neither West nor East but both — and that, of course, is the problem about Turkey’s aspiration to join the EU.

‘Welcome in Europe!’ Mustafa shouted as we crossed the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge from the Asian side of the Bosphorus. But the Germans, Austrians and French have made it pretty clear that he and his countrymen are not welcome — offending Turkish honour so deeply that poll support for joining has fallen from 75 per cent to half that level, with many public figures now unwilling to declare themselves in favour. But one politician I met, a member of the liberal Anavatan party, was more frank: ‘Of course we should join. It’s not just about jobs for migrants. The rules and disciplines would be good for us too. And it would help keep Turkey a secular state. That’s the most important thing.’ And that’s why Britain should continue to support Turkish entry, even taking account of Charles Moore’s point last week that EU membership is an odd thing to wish on your friends.