Old haunt of US spies now a playground for Turkish elite

Istanbul

FOR more than a century, the grand Italianate mansion that serves as an anchor of this city's European quarter was a beehive of American diplomacy and espionage.

Spies toiled within and met their agents at the bar across the street. Reporters dropped by for after-work drinks, and any Turk could walk in off the street to see the latest art exhibition or browse the library. There seemed to be a celebration every night.

"We were partying all the time," said Ayse Ozakinci, who was a librarian for four decades in the imposing structure, the American Consulate in Istanbul. "There was a festive mood for everyone."

And then, a dozen years ago, the party stopped, and security walls enclosed the mansion as the threat of terrorism sent American diplomats to a…