Oh, someone's giving out sweets. Is that because your wishes come true in the past?

My Dylen is me again, I'm sure.

Ewets.

Uzzar my family had wished for a car and a house and this lady asked how long it took.

So he explains it was a year and now she's like quite hopeful that her wishes will come

true. You're listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service I'm

Emily Wither and this is heart and soul exploring

personal approaches to spirituality from around the world. I'm in Turkey in Europe's largest city Istanbul, a place that me, my

producer Zaynet Bilgensoy and over 16 million people call home.

It's the first day of the month and we're at the Church of the Virgin Mary.

It's quite an incredible scene. There is this enormous line, mostly of women that stretches all the way up the hill it runs for about a

kilometer people just waiting to get into a small door in the wall you couldn't even

tell it was a church I ask why it's mostly women here and I'm told men think in rational

ways while women are more sensitive and spiritual. There's a feeling of

excitement and joy in the air as people pack the sidewalk and

spill into the narrow road preparing to share their wishes and woes.

Across the road in the shade of a large umbrella a mother from Azerbaijan feeds her

15-day-old baby a wish that came true she's here to return her key. That's the tradition.

You take a key as you make a wish and if it comes true you then return it so it can be

passed on to someone else for good luck.

Next to her is Fecrier.

She's wearing a white flowery headscarf.

...