OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DECADES, Turkey has suffered from a lost-empire inferiority complex. But with a robust new economy and an ever-emboldened prime minister, the country feels well on its way to regional superpowerdom. And Istanbul, Turkey's urban behemoth, bursts with this newfound confidence. This past year, the European Union named it a Capital of Culture.

Forget the whole East-West thing: Today's Istanbul is Turkish through and through.

That...