What Direction from Istanbul to New York?

There is no single compass direction because the cities are on different continents separated by the Atlantic. Great-circle routing (shortest path) from Istanbul (41°N, 29°E) to New York (40°N, 74°W) initially heads northwest over Europe/Greenland, crossing the North Atlantic. A polar route may go north then south. Commercial flights typically route northwest via North Atlantic Tracks. "East or west" depends on your map projection—on a globe, it's a curve, not a straight line.