Foreign journalists consider abandoning Turkey after Reina nightclub attack

It’s a sobering start to 2017 for many in Istanbul. Dozens dead and many more wounded after a man in a Santa suit opened fire on revellers at the Reina nightclub. For a city so used to attacks this one seems to have struck a deeper chord, perhaps because it was at the heart of a residential area called Ortakoy, rather than a big tourist mecca.

With its narrow winding streets and wooden houses, Ortakoy is normally a pleasant place to sip Turkish coffee and watch ships float by on the aqua blue waters of the Bosphorous. It’s home to an abundance of cafes and trinket shops, but just one street back from the strait you get a feel for real life in Istanbul. Fruit and veg shops spill out onto the pavement at the foot of Ortakoy’s steep hills. Vendors shout to their friends across the road. Stray cats and dogs wander freely, loved and fed by the entire neighbourhood.