Istanbul in the 1970s, as people from Anatolia migrated to the city to find employment in the many new factories that were built on the outskirts of the sprawling metropolis. This sudden, sharp rise in the city's population caused a large demand for housing, and many previously outlying villages and forests became engulfed into the metropolitan area of Istanbul. Istanbul is located in north-western Turkey within the Marmara Region on a total area of . The Bosphorus, which connects the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea, divides the city into a European, Thracian side—comprising the historic and economic centers—and an
The Bastard of Istanbul The Bastard of Istanbul The Bastard of Istanbul is a 2006 novel by Turkish bestselling author Elif Şafak, written originally in English and published by Viking Adult. It was translated by Aslı Biçen into her native language Turkish under the title "Baba ve Piç" in March 2006, and became a bestseller. The story centers around Asya Kazancı and Armanoush Tchakhmakhchian. It is set in Arizona; San Francisco, California; and Istanbul, Turkey. The novel deals with their families and how they are connected through the history of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. At age nineteen, Armanoush travels secretly to Istanbul to search