Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Istanbul

Istanbul
This nomination predates the introduction in April 2014 of article-specific subpages for nominations and has been created from the edit history of Today's featured article/requests. 
 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page unless you are renominating the article at TFAR. For renominations, please add   to the top of the discussion and   at the bottom, then complete a new nomination underneath, starting with  .

The result was: not scheduled – it was provisionally scheduled for Today's featured article/September 8, 2013 (by BencherliteTalk at 14:59, 27 August 2013‎) but only to run if it won the bid for the 2020 Olympics, which it did not.



Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population of 13.9 million, the city is among the largest cities in the world by population within city limits. Its commercial and historical center lies in Europe, while a third of its population lives across the Bosphorus in Asia. Founded around 660 BC as Byzantium, it served as the capital of four empires for nearly sixteen centuries following its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 AD. It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold (Sultan Ahmed Mosque pictured) and the seat of the last caliphate. Istanbul's strategic position along the historic Silk Road, rail networks to Europe and the Middle East, and the only sea route between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean have helped foster an eclectic populace. The city's biggest draw remains its historic center, partially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but its cultural and entertainment hub can be found across the city's natural harbor, the Golden Horn.
 * Timing: 1 point (Date relevant to topic, with selection of Olympic host city; see below)
 * Importance: 4 points (Vital article)
 * Main Page representation: 2 points (No city article within six months)
 * Total: 7 points

This is a bit of an unorthodox request here. Istanbul is among the three candidates for host city of the 2020 Summer Olympics, which will be selected on September 7. If Istanbul is chosen to host the event, I feel having Istanbul as TFA the day after would be particularly appropriate. (And if it isn't selected, its choice as TFA would be a bit odd.) Therefore, I'd like to propose this for TFA on September 8, conditional on Istanbul being selected as host city. We should know the host city by 5:30pm, Buenos Aires time (20:30 UTC), on September 7. If it's not selected for the Olympics, I'd then suggest we swap it out with another article, perhaps one of the "emergency" articles. Thoughts? --  tariq abjotu  16:48, 12 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Support TB randley  (T • C  • B) 17:40, 12 August 2013 (UTC)
 * I wonder whether it would be better for the editors of the other article to do this the other way round - have a non-date-specific article (X) selected to run on 8th September, with the proviso that if Istanbul is chosen as host city then X will be bumped. Otherwise, the principal editors of X will only get a few hours' notice that X is to run, which might not be fair on them... BencherliteTalk 17:46, 12 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes, that makes sense, especially since there's a decent chance Istanbul won't be selected as host city and this won't run that day. I feel like that's something in your control though: you can provisionally select a non-date-specific article for September 8, and notify the editors of that article of this arrangement so they won't be surprised if their article is bumped. --  tariq abjotu  17:51, 12 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Oppose Parts of article do not comply with WP:NPOV. See: Talk:Istanbul. Cavann (talk) 16:15, 20 August 2013 (UTC)
 * This is a blatant attempt to hold TFA hostage in exchange for getting the article modified in a manner that received objections by no fewer than five editors in an RfC he started in April. This kind of manipulation of the process should not be permitted. --  tariq abjotu  20:28, 20 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Featured articles must be NPOV. Read core Wiki policies. The RFC did not attract any uninvolved editors, unfortunately. And editors cannot override NPOV. Cavann (talk) 21:21, 20 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Having quickly read over that discussion, as an entirely uninvolved contributor, I think it came to a clear consensus and the correct decision. Andrew Gray (talk) 22:19, 26 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Support Alex2006 (talk) 05:38, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Support Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 04:11, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Support Vital article. Ceoil (talk) 09:46, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Support, assuming date relevance. (Pity neither Madrid or Tokyo is FA!) The NPOV objections above seem to refer to a long-running dispute over historical origins, but I am confident this section of the article is currently in a stable and NPOV version. Andrew Gray (talk) 22:19, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

Istanbul

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page unless you are renominating the article at TFAR. For renominations, please add   to the top of the discussion and   at the bottom, then complete a new nomination underneath. To do this, see the instructions at TFAR nom/doc.

The result was: not scheduled by Brianboulton (talk) 15:28, 15 May 2016 (UTC)



Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population of 13.9 million, the city is among the largest cities in the world by population within city limits. Its commercial and historical center lies in Europe, while a third of its population lives across the Bosphorus in Asia. Founded around 660 BC as Byzantium, it served as the capital of four empires for nearly sixteen centuries following its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 AD. It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold (Sultan Ahmed Mosque pictured) and the seat of the last caliphate. Istanbul's strategic position along the historic Silk Road, rail networks to Europe and the Middle East, and the only sea route between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean have helped foster an eclectic populace. The city's biggest draw remains its historic center, partially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but its cultural and entertainment hub can be found across the city's natural harbor, the Golden Horn.
 * Most recent similar article(s): Cities: Winnipeg (26 March 2016) All recent FA cities have been in the Anglosphere
 * Main editors: User:Tariqabjotu
 * Promoted: 16 October 2012
 * Reasons for nomination: Vital article. Requesting for anniversary of Fall of Constantinople
 * Support as nominator. &#39;&#39;&#39;tAD&#39;&#39;&#39; (talk) 23:13, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

Coordinator's note: This is an important article and in principle would be an excellent TFA choice. However, it's not in good shape at present. During a quick scan I noted at least seven or eight uncited statements at the ends of paragraphs; who knows if others are concealed in the text? In the first citations column I found dead links (6, 19, 102, 111 which was as far as I checked), ref 96 going to the wrong site, 108 and 109 apparently duplicates. There's lots of incomplete ref formats (publishers missing, etc) and inconsistency in defining non-English sources by language. This is a huge article (11,000+ words, 344 citations) and I am very dubious that all the necessary maintenance can be completed over the next two weeks. The 563rd anniversary is not a particularly resonant number, and it may be better to consider, maybe, next year to allow more time for getting the article into order. Brianboulton (talk) 09:13, 13 May 2016 (UTC)


 * In view of no response to the above, I have not scheduled this article for 29 May. Next year would be realistic if the necessary updating work is done. Brianboulton (talk) 15:27, 15 May 2016 (UTC)