Istanbul: Belgian royal mission and Galatasaray champions

Par Gabriel Goldberg 10 May 2026 7 min read

Last night, my plane touched down in Istanbul . Not as a tourist, not quite as a journalist — as a witness. I'm here as part of a Belgian economic mission to Turkey of unusual scale: a delegation led personally by Her Majesty the Queen of the Belgians , who is scheduled to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tomorrow. But before the dark suits and state protocol take over the official salons, I did what I always do when I land in a world-city: I walked. To reconnect with Istanbul, the megalopolis that has straddled time itself , and to talk to the people the diplomatic communiqués never mention. At the foot of Galata Tower, at dusk. First evening in Istanbul, on the eve of official meetings. Key takeaways State-level economic mission : the Queen of the Belgians personally leads a major diplomatic and economic delegation in Turkey, with a scheduled meeting with President Erdoğan. Istanbul this morning : a city in jubilation after Galatasaray clinched the Süper Lig title last night. Four districts crossed on foot : Galata, Beyoğlu, Taksim, Sultanahmet — each a different layer of the city. Real encounters : waitresses, newlyweds, shopkeepers, supporters. Diplomacy starts in the street, not in the salons. Estimated read : 12 minutes — a field notebook, not a guidebook. A Belgian delegation in Istanbul: why this mission matters Belgian royal economic missions are not declared lightly. When Queen Mathilde personally leads a delegation abroad, the protocol carries a strong political…