Maybe no other city deserves the title of European Capital of Culture as much as Istanbul does Every European Capital of Culture (ECOC) since the European Union stated the program in 1985 has been proposed, supported or sponsored by a national or local government. During the 23 years of this program, over 30 cities have become Cultural Capitals, but Istanbul's application is the first to originate from a purely civil initiative. Inspired by the EU's decision to expand the ECOC program to non-member European countries from 1999, a group of Turkish NGO representatives met in July 2000 to explore the possibility of formulating an application for Istanbul This meeting led to an alternative Group to garner local and national government support for Istanbul's candidacy.

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