Three bodies of water meet here: the Golden Horn, Bosphorus Strait and Sea of Marmara.

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Anti-Semitism was also blatant during a campaign against an Israeli financier, Sammy Ofer, who had planned to invest with a Turkish partner in rehabilitating Istanbul's historic Galata district and its port near the Golden Horn.

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And, yet, a few streets down from the tourist icon of Galata Tower, ancient alleys tumble down to the Golden Horn in a decayed and unlit grandiosity, untouched, it would seem, since about 1840 such is Istanbul's gift for mad contradiction.

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Before she went missing, Sierra, the mother of two, had been in regular contact with her family and friends, and told relatives she planned to take photographs at the Galata Bridge a tourist landmark that spans the Golden Horn waterway and is lined with fishermen.

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Sierra was in regular contact with friends and relatives during the trip and had told them she would visit Galata Bridge, which spans Istanbul's Golden Horn waterway, to take photos.

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