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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Morden-born filmmaker explores Hidden World of the Harem - Morden Times - Manitoba, CA

Morden-born filmmaker explores Hidden World of the Harem
Posted 1 hour ago

In January of 2011, a Winnipeg-based film crew received word their visas had been approved, travel was arranged, and they were about to embark on the production of a lifetime.

A crew of prairie-dwellers left to join Morden-born David Rabinovitch for one month in Istanbul, Turkey - a megalopolis of over 13 million people.

More:Morden-born filmmaker explores Hidden World of the Harem - Morden Times - Manitoba, CA

Turkey threatens Spanish lemon sector's hegemony in Europe

Turkey threatens Spanish lemon sector's hegemony in Europe

The Spanish lemon sector is undergoing a true price crisis that, in the case of the top lemons, dropped up to 25% at origin compared to the previous campaign, having as a main threat the competition of Turkish production. According to some Spanish growers this produce gets into Europe without adequate food safety control measures.

More:Turkey threatens Spanish lemon sector's hegemony in Europe

Journalists Record: 147 Men, 27 Women - Bianet

Journalists Record: 147 Men, 27 Women

The ratio of women working in the print media ranges at around 15 percent; only one publications director is female. Nurcan Akat, Turkey's first female general publications director, told bianet, "the situation of newspaper staff is deplorable" and explained the reasons.

More:English :: Journalists Record: 147 Men, 27 Women - Bianet

Turkish parliament discusses Khojaly genocide

Turkish parliament discusses Khojaly genocide

Wed 29 February 2012 05:53 GMT | 0:53 Local Time

At the Turkish Grand National Assembly held discussion on the 20th anniversary of Khojaly genocide, APA reports.

More:News.Az - Turkish parliament discusses Khojaly genocide

Turkey’s January Trade Gap Narrows on Year to $7 Billion - Bloomberg

Turkey’s January Trade Gap Narrows on Year to $7 Billion
By Steve Bryant - Feb 29, 2012 4:19 AM ET

Turkey’s trade deficit narrowed to $7 billion in January, shrinking for a third consecutive month.

The shortfall declined from $7.4 billion in January 2011, the statistics office in Ankara said on its website today. The gap exceeded the expectations of all 10 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, whose median estimate was $6.4 billion. It was $8.1 billion in December.

More:Turkey’s January Trade Gap Narrows on Year to $7 Billion - Bloomberg

15% of northern Cyprus 'belongs to Israelis' - report

15% of northern Cyprus 'belongs to Israelis' - report

• Wed, Feb 29, 2012
Kibris reporter Ahmet Tolgay has written a revealing column under the banner: “Extraordinary interest from Israel for Cyprus”, where he refers to the investments of Israeli businessmen in the occupied area of Cyprus.

More:15% of northern Cyprus 'belongs to Israelis' - report

Turkey ready to share pain with Armenians: report

Turkey ready to share pain with Armenians: report

Wednesday, 29 February 2012

Turkey is ready to share the pain of Armenians as they prepare to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in 2015, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said.

“We want to share the pain of those who are ready to share it with us,” Davutoglu was quoted as saying by Anatolia news agency in an interview with state-run television TRT Haber late Tuesday.

More:Turkey ready to share pain with Armenians: report

Turkish Director of ‘Ask Your Heart’, Yusuf Kurçenli, Passes Away | Greek Reporter Europe

Turkish Director of ‘Ask Your Heart’, Yusuf Kurçenli, Passes Away
By Fani Toli on February 28, 2012 in news, Turkey

The Turkish director Yusuf Kurçenli died at the age of 65 in Istanbul of Turkey. Kurçenli was born in Çayeli, Rize Province, Turkey. He studied journalism at Istanbul University.

More:Turkish Director of ‘Ask Your Heart’, Yusuf Kurçenli, Passes Away | Greek Reporter Europe

Saudi royal set to invest $300m in Turkish hotels | HotelierMiddleEast.com

Saudi royal set to invest $300m in Turkish hotels

Feb 29, 2012

A member of Saudi Arabia’s ruling family plans to invest $300m into a Turkish hotel chain, a newspaper report has claimed.

More:Saudi royal set to invest $300m in Turkish hotels | HotelierMiddleEast.com

GE Helps Power a Growing Turkey | GE Reports

GE Helps Power a Growing Turkey

Despite an uncertain world economy and much volatility in the nearby European Union, Turkey continues to grow. And a growing economy needs electric power. GE Energy, already a major supplier to Turkey’s power sector, recently announced new deals to supply the equipment for a major new gas-fired power plant in the Erzin District of southern Turkey, along with related services. The gigantic new plant will ultimately generate 900 megawatts, which is a whopping 2.6 percent of Turkey’s entire current electricity requirement.

More:GE Helps Power a Growing Turkey | GE Reports

Neighbors / Talking with terrorists, Turkish style - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Neighbors / Talking with terrorists, Turkish style
Ankara, too, knows there's no decisive military solution to terror, so it needs an agreement with the PKK.
By Zvi Bar'el

Is negotiating with terror organizations allowed? In Israel we already know the answer. It is. If the objective is to release a captive soldier, achieve a prisoner exchange or seal a cease-fire, negotiations aren't only allowed, they're desirable.

More:Neighbors / Talking with terrorists, Turkish style - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Britain gives £80m in aid to Turkey to help upgrade nation¿s sewer system | Mail Online

Britain gives £80m in aid to Turkey to help upgrade nation’s sewer system

By Jason Groves

Millions of pounds of British aid is being used to upgrade Turkey’s sewage system, MPs have been told.

Tory MPs reacted with anger last night as details emerged of a little-known Brussels scheme to channel hundreds of millions of pounds a year of aid into countries such as Turkey that are seeking to join the European Union.

More:Britain gives £80m in aid to Turkey to help upgrade nation¿s sewer system | Mail Online

Berdymukhammedov visits Ankara

Berdymukhammedov visits Ankara

Staff Report

2012-02-28

ANKARA – Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov is in Ankara for a two-day-visit, news media reported February 28. This is president’s first foreign visit after the election.

More:Berdymukhammedov visits Ankara - Central Asia Online

Former U.S. Ambassador Matthew Bryza Retired From Diplomatic Service, Settled In Turkey

Former U.S. Ambassador Matthew Bryza Retired From Diplomatic Service, Settled In Turkey

BAKU. February 28, 2012: Former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza retired from government service at U.S. Department of State and moved with his family to Turkey. Currently, he works at a Turkish bank in Istanbul, an informed source told Turan. In his interview with the Turkish media, Bryza reiterated that "he fell victim to the Armenian Diaspora,” which could not forgive him for marrying an American woman of Turkish origin, Zeyno Baran.

More:azerireport.com - Former U.S. Ambassador Matthew Bryza Retired From Diplomatic Service, Settled In Turkey

Nicolas Sarkozy orders new Armenian genocide law - Telegraph

Nicolas Sarkozy orders new Armenian genocide law
President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered his government to draft a new law punishing denial of the Armenian genocide after France's top court struck it down as unconstitutional.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their forebears were killed in a 1915-16 genocide by Turkey's former Ottoman Empire. Turkey says 500,000 died and ascribes the toll to fighting and starvation during World War I.

More:Nicolas Sarkozy orders new Armenian genocide law - Telegraph

The Nuray Mert issue in EU-Turkey dialogue

The Nuray Mert issue in EU-Turkey dialogue

The issue of journalists who lost their jobs because of their political stance and whose situation was brought up by deputies from the European Union (EU) constituted one of the most interesting topics in last week’s meeting of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Commission in Istanbul.

More:SEDAT ERGİN - The Nuray Mert issue in EU-Turkey dialogue

Istanbul Exhibition Examines Greek-Turkey Relationship | Europe | English

Istanbul Exhibition Examines Greek-Turkey Relationship

Dorian Jones | Istanbul

The mass, forced population exchange between Turkey and Greece nearly 100 years ago is being examined in a groundbreaking exhibition in Istanbul. The exhibition is seen as an important step in the growing rapprochement between the two countries that remained foes for much of the past century.

More:Istanbul Exhibition Examines Greek-Turkey Relationship | Europe | English

On-air race clash mars Dutch political contest - FT.com

On-air race clash mars Dutch political contest

By Matt Steinglass in Amsterdam

The contest for leadership of the Dutch Labour party shifted from economic issues to racial and cultural ones on Tuesday after an on-air clash between the hosts of the country's top late-night talk show and a female candidate of Turkish descent.

The campaign to succeed Job Cohen, Labour leader, who resigned last week, is viewed as a bellwether of trends among European social democratic parties, which have shifted left to defend social programmes as voter opposition to austerity policies grows.

But economic and social issues scarcely got a hearing in the television appearance on Monday night of Nebahat Albayrak, a member of parliament and former deputy minister of justice who is one of five candidates for the Labour leadership.

Ms Albayrak took offence when the hosts, Jeroen Pauw and Paul Witteman, began by asking whether the party was ready to be led by a woman of Turkish background.

More:On-air race clash mars Dutch political contest - FT.com

Some lessons I learned from Yilmaz Güney | Bleader

Some lessons I learned from Yilmaz Güney
Posted by Ben Sachs on Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 1:30 PM

I wrote several posts about the Yilmaz Güney series that just wrapped up at Doc Films, in part because it was such an eye-opening experience for me. Save for a handful of festival titles and the films of Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Distant, Climates, etc.), I’d spent zero time with Turkish cinema before this. The series provided a great overview, as Güney made movies both within the Turkish studio system and as an independent. His amazing life story spans the entire class system of postwar Turkey, as he went from an impoverished Kurdish background to mainstream celebrity to political martyrdom (and ultimately exile) between the years of 1937 and 1982. In the best films of the series—Hope, The Friend, Yol—Güney conveyed this complex experience artfully and stirringly.

More:Some lessons I learned from Yilmaz Güney | Bleader

Indictment of 'Masterminds' of Murders in Turkey Expected, Christian News

Indictment of 'Masterminds' of Murders in Turkey Expected
Court sets a week of court hearings in April for witness testimony.

February 28, 2012|1:39 pm
ISTANBUL – Judges in Turkey's southeastern city of Malatya have announced the preparation of an indictment in the case of three murdered Christians that is expected to reveal a shadowy network that incited five young men to carry out the crime.

More:Indictment of "Masterminds" of Murders in Turkey Expected, Christian News

French court rules genocide law unconstitutional

French court rules genocide law unconstitutional

PARIS — France's Constitutional Council ruled Tuesday that a French law concerning the mass killings of Armenians a century ago violates the country's constitution.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had personally backed the law, immediately said he would ask the government to prepare a new bill taking into account the council's ruling.

More:French court rules genocide law unconstitutional

Five Istanbul Hot Spots With A View

Five Istanbul Hot Spots With A View
Caroline Patek Caroline Patek, Contributor

With its Ottoman Empire history and vibrant modern culture, there’s no denying Istanbul’s charm. At the center of it all, the city’s lifeblood is the body of water that divides Europe and Asia—the Bosphorus Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. The waterway’s strategic importance enticed Constantine the Great to found the city as the capital of the Eastern Roman empire, but today, it’s the focus of some of Istanbul’s most sought-after views. At the end of a day in Turkey’s busiest city, settle in and ponder this famous strait from these five spots with can’t-miss views.

More:Five Istanbul Hot Spots With A View - Forbes

Armenian side distorts facts, falsifies documents and uses other incriminating methods which it has used throughout its history-Fuad Alasgarov

Armenian side distorts facts, falsifies documents and uses other incriminating methods which it has used throughout its history-Fuad Alasgarov

Interview with Fuad Alasgarov, chief of the department for work with law-enforcement bodies of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan.

The 24th anniversary of the Sumgayit events is drawing near. Last year Congressman Adam Schiff tried to raise the issue in the US Congress. This year a bill on an "Armenian genocide" in Sumgayit was even presented for consideration in the legislative body of the state of California. Do you think that there is a great threat of a bill on the so-called "Armenian genocide"?

More:Armenian side distorts facts, falsifies documents and uses other incriminating methods which it has used throughout its history-Fuad Alasgarov

Turkey Reveals Uncomfortable Relationship with Jews

Turkey Reveals Uncomfortable Relationship with Jews
February 28, 2012 8:35 am 0 comments

“Never was any nationality, religion or belief group oppressed in these lands. On the contrary, they were treated as equals, with respect, and their cultural heritages were conserved,” Huseyin Avni Mutlu, Istanbul’s governor, recently said at a Holocaust commemoration ceremony. Still, though twenty thousand Jews currently live in Turkey, all is not as it seems in this Middle Eastern country.

More:Turkey Reveals Uncomfortable Relationship with Jews

Turkish firm pulls Saab bid over GM 'rebuff' - The Local

Turkish firm pulls Saab bid over GM 'rebuff'

Published: 28 Feb 12 14:15 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
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Turkish private equity firm Brightwell Holdings has withdrawn a bid to buy bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab owing to a lack of cooperation from former owner GM, a Swedish daily reported Tuesday.

More:Turkish firm pulls Saab bid over GM 'rebuff' - The Local

Turk to stand for Dutch Labor party leadership in Netherlands

Turk to stand for Dutch Labor party leadership in Netherlands

AMSTERDAM
Nebahat Albayrak, an ethnic Turk, will stand for the election of chairman of the Netherlands’ main opposition, the Social Democratic Labor Party, after the resignation of Job Cohen, daily Hürriyet has reported.

More:POLITICS - Turk to stand for Dutch Labor party leadership in Netherlands

Turkish Stocks: Carrefour Sabanci, Tesco Kipa Move in Istanbul - Bloomberg

Turkish Stocks: Carrefour Sabanci, Tesco Kipa Move in Istanbul
By Benjamin Harvey - Feb 28, 2012 4:30 AM ET

Turkey’s benchmark ISE National 100 Index rose 1.2 percent to 59,543.81 at 10:39 a.m. in Istanbul after a 1.5 percent fall yesterday.

The following stocks are active. Stock symbols are in parentheses.

CarrefourSA Carrefour Sabanci Ticaret Merkezi AS (CARFA) , the grocery store chain owned by France’s Carrefour SA (CA) and Haci Omer Sabanci Holding AS (SAHOL), surged 8.9 percent to 16.50 liras, its highest in almost seven months, after Vatan newspaper reported U.K.-based retailer Tesco Plc. (TSCO) was interested in buying the company. No decision has yet been made regarding Sabanci’s shares in CarrefourSA and the company continues to study strategic options, according to a statement made by Sabanci to the Istanbul Stock Exchange today. Sabanci shares increased 1.4 percent to 7.36 liras.

More:Turkish Stocks: Carrefour Sabanci, Tesco Kipa Move in Istanbul - Bloomberg

Turkey and China: Ancient Connections, Modern Allies - International Business Times

Turkey and China: Ancient Connections, Modern Allies
Analysis

By Palash R. Ghosh: Subscribe to Palash's RSS feed

February 28, 2012 8:05 AM EST

Two of the world's most ancient and grand civilizations are now also among the fastest-growing economies on the modern stage.

They are also extending their bilateral trade relations, reflecting their growing dominance in global financial affairs.

More:Turkey and China: Ancient Connections, Modern Allies - International Business Times

Turkey bans sexist military marches

Turkey bans sexist military marches

Published: Feb. 28, 2012 at 9:41 AM

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- The Turkish government, in an effort to prevent violence against women, has prohibited sexist military marches, officials say.

More:Turkey bans sexist military marches - UPI.com

Turkish American Leadership Welcomes High Court Decision

Turkish American Leadership Welcomes High Court Decision
Tuesday, 28 February 2012 10:16

The Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA), Turkish American Community Centers (TACC), Azerbaijan American Council (AAC) and Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA) welcome the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit's invalidation of a law designed to provide special treatment for California Armenians, in Movsesian v. Victoria Versicherung, et al. on February 23, 2012.

The Court decided 11-0 that the so-called Poochigian Law was invalid because it unconstitutionally interfered with U.S. foreign policy not to prejudice Turkey with an unproven allegation of genocide. Click here to read the opinion of the Court.

More:Turkish American Leadership Welcomes High Court Decision

Saudi royal boss to invest $300 million in Turkey, shifting away from unrest

Saudi royal boss to invest $300 million in Turkey, shifting away from unrest

Tuesday, 28 February 2012

By AL ARABIYA

A Saudi hotel developer will invest $300 million in Turkey, to increase the number of his company’s “My Tuana” hotels, the Hurriyet Daily News website reported on Tuesday.

Increasing interest in Turkey has been the result of a recent tourist influx into the country after the Arab Spring unrest had hit popular Middle East tourist destinations throughout 2011.

More:Saudi royal boss to invest $300 million in Turkey, shifting away from unrest

Turkey's Sabanci Holding: No Decision On Carrefour JV Shares | Fox Business

Turkey's Sabanci Holding: No Decision On Carrefour JV Shares

Published February 28, 2012

Dow Jones Newswires

ISTANBUL – Turkey's Sabanci Holding (SAHOL.IS) said Tuesday no decision has been taken on shares in its joint venture with French retailer Carrefour SA (CA.FR), denying local media reports.

More:Turkey's Sabanci Holding: No Decision On Carrefour JV Shares | Fox Business

Turkey, First Country Ratifying Convention on Violence Against Women, 28 February 2012 Tuesday 9:33

Turkey, First Country Ratifying Convention on Violence Against Women

Tuesday, 28 February 2012

UNITED NATIONS (A.A) - Turkey's deputy family and social policies minister said on Monday that Turkey was the first country that signed and ratified the Council of Europe (COE) Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

More:Turkey, First Country Ratifying Convention on Violence Against Women, 28 February 2012 Tuesday 9:33

Softer oil helps Turkish lira, bonds | Reuters

Softer oil helps Turkish lira, bonds

ISTANBUL, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The Turkish lira recovered against the dollar and bonds also got a boost on Tuesday as a dip in oil prices eased concerns about the country's huge current account deficit and double-digit inflation.

More:Softer oil helps Turkish lira, bonds | Reuters

1,500-Year-Old Gospel in Which Jesus Foretold Arrival of Mohammad Discovered in Turkey - International Business Times

1,500-Year-Old Gospel in Which Jesus Foretold Arrival of Mohammad Discovered in Turkey

By Amrutha Gayathri: Subscribe to Amrutha's RSS feed

February 28, 2012 2:34 AM EST

Jesus, in the newly discovered Gospel, which had been hidden in Turkey for the past 12 years, allegedly bears strong resemblance to the Islamic view of Jesus, according to Turkish culture and tourism minister Ertugrul Gunay.

More:1,500-Year-Old Gospel in Which Jesus Foretold Arrival of Mohammad Discovered in Turkey - International Business Times

UBM Builds Events Capabilities in Turkey - MarketWatch

UBM Builds Events Capabilities in Turkey

LONDON, February 28, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- UBM plc today announces that it has formed a strategic partnership with NTSR, a leading Turkish exhibition company, to create an operations and logistics hub which will provide a local platform for UBM's planned growth in Turkey and across the wider region. With more than 30 years' experience, NTSR is one of the best known and respected events businesses in Turkey.

More:UBM Builds Events Capabilities in Turkey - MarketWatch

Turkish Taboos Challenged by Success of Movie About Gays - TIME

Turkish Taboos Challenged by Success of Gay 'Honor Killing' Movie
By Pelin Turgut / Istanbul Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012
Click here to find out more!

Turkish movie-theater bookers were less than enthusiastic when two directors — Mehmet Binay and Caner Alper — approached them with a film inspired by the true story of a 26-year-old killed, allegedly by his father, for being gay. Even though Binay and Alper's film, Zenne Dancer, had won awards, they were told that Turkey was not ready for a mainstream gay movie.

More:Turkish Taboos Challenged by Success of Movie About Gays - TIME

Turkish hospital says world’s 1st quadruple limb transplant fails, patient dies - The Washington Post

Turkish hospital says world’s 1st quadruple limb transplant fails, patient dies

By Associated Press, Published: February 27

ANKARA, Turkey — A 27-year-old Turkish man who underwent the world’s first would-be quadruple limb transplant died Monday, hours after the limbs were removed due to metabolic failure, the hospital said.

More:Turkish hospital says world’s 1st quadruple limb transplant fails, patient dies - The Washington Post

Turkish parliament to discuss Khojaly genocide - Trend

Turkish parliament to discuss Khojaly genocide
28 February 2012, 09:53 (GMT+04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.28 / Trend A.Taghiyeva /

Today, the Turkish parliament will discuss the recognition of the Khojaly genocide, the parliament said.

More:Turkish parliament to discuss Khojaly genocide - Trend

Monday, February 27, 2012

Erdogan Promise Hit by $15 Billion Finance Delays: Turkey Credit - Businessweek

Erdogan Promise Hit by $15 Billion Finance Delays: Turkey Credit
February 27, 2012, 9:27 PM EST

By Louise Meeson

Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Eight months after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won an election landslide vowing to build roads, bridges and power plants, his plans are threatened by a financing shortfall of at least $15 billion.

More:Erdogan Promise Hit by $15 Billion Finance Delays: Turkey Credit - Businessweek

Intel Capital plans Istanbul office

Intel Capital plans Istanbul office

Kiel Porter
28 Feb 2012

Intel Capital, the investment arm of technology conglomerate Intel, is set to open a new office in Turkey within the next 12 to 18 months as its head of investment for the region said the country had the "potential to create a very liquid stock market".

More:Intel Capital plans Istanbul office

Saudi royal boss to expand hotel business in Turkey

Saudi royal boss to expand hotel business in Turkey

ISTANBUL
Bander bin Fahd al-Fehaid, head of the Arab Tourism Organization, plans to invest $300 million in the local market to increase the number of his company’s My Tuana hotels, which specialize in therapy and massage

More:BUSINESS - Saudi royal boss to expand hotel business in Turkey

A Voyage To Turkish Shores

A Voyage To Turkish Shores
February 27, 2012
by Maxim Edwards

'Turkey, SOS!'—Tatar Nationalists picketing the Turkish Consulate in Kazan, February 2012. Maxim Edwards/KH.

On 21 February, three Tatar nationalist activists from the Azatliq (Freedom) movement picketed the Turkish Consulate in Kazan to gain Turkish support for their cause. The picket has apparently become a tradition. The strong words on the banners seemed to compensate for the modest size of their protest. “In Russia today” begins one banner, “there is an unspoken linguistic, spiritual, and cultural genocide of Turkic nations. Turkey, do not be silent!” On the other side of ulitsa Gorkogo, the Turkish consulate didn’t seem to stir.

More:A Voyage To Turkish Shores | The Kazan Herald

SONER ÇAĞAPTAY - Turkey’s post-EU world

Turkey’s post-EU world

In the past 10 years the relationship between Turkey and the European Union (EU) has transformed drastically. A decade ago, Turkey lacked any real economic growth, which translated into low self-esteem nationally. Turkey, believing its only solution was to become a member of the European community, desperately hoped for a successful bid into the EU. This perception, however, that Turkey has to subsume itself under the European continent and become a member of Europe in order to succeed, is now history.

More:SONER ÇAĞAPTAY - Turkey’s post-EU world

Turkey Seeks to Be International Mediation Center | Middle East | English

Turkey Seeks to Be International Mediation Center

Dorian Jones | Istanbul

The Turkish foreign minister is seeking to make Istanbul a center for mediation in resolving international crises. The initiative comes as Ankara seeks to resolve the conflict in Syria and tensions over Iran's nuclear energy program.

More:Turkey Seeks to Be International Mediation Center | Middle East | English

Turkey: Erdogan's brand of Islam ushers in cultural boom - Turkey - ANSAMed.it

Turkey: Erdogan's brand of Islam ushers in cultural boom
Moderate Islamic premier promotes theatre, books, cinema

27 February, 18:53

(by Rodolfo Calo') (ANSAmed) - ANKARA, FEBRUARY 27 - Official figures for cultural activity released in Turkey this year show what is practically a summary of a thriving cultural scene under the Erdogan era.

More:Turkey: Erdogan's brand of Islam ushers in cultural boom - Turkey - ANSAMed.it

Turkey: Proposed Education Reform Bill Gets Failing Grade | EurasiaNet.org

Turkey: Proposed Education Reform Bill Gets Failing Grade
February 27, 2012 - 5:34pm, by Yigal Schleifer

Turkey faces numerous domestic challenges, but reforming the country's out-of-date education system is without a doubt one of the most significant ones. No matter how you slice it, Turkey's performance in the field of education leaves much to be desired. Guven Sak, a columnist for the Hurriyet Daily News and head of the Ankara-based Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), laid out Turkey's education woes in a recent piece:

More:Turkey: Proposed Education Reform Bill Gets Failing Grade | EurasiaNet.org

Turkish Museums Will Use 3D Technology to Attract Visitors | 3D TV

Turkish Museums Will Use 3D Technology to Attract Visitors
Posted By Mike Lata
February 27, 2012 at 7:42am

Technology and art are colliding in Turkey. Museums in Turkey will soon be offering 3D visual systems (probably stereoscopic in nature) to bring in more visitors to the nation's museums and add a technological touch to their ancient exhibits.

More:Turkish Museums Will Use 3D Technology to Attract Visitors | 3D TV

AFP: Turkey's quadruple limb transplant fails

Turkey's quadruple limb transplant fails

(AFP) – 3 hours ago

ANKARA — Turkish surgeons removed both arms and legs from a patient who underwent what was touted as the world's first quadruple limb transplant due to metabolic complications, the hospital said on Monday.

Fifty-two doctors from Ankara's Hacettepe University Hospital performed the transplant on Friday, attaching two arms and two legs to Sevket Cavdar.

More:AFP: Turkey's quadruple limb transplant fails

Meet Istanbul’s Only Female Soccer Coach, Symbol Of Turkey's Many Contradictions - Worldcrunch - All News is Global

Meet Istanbul’s Only Female Soccer Coach, Symbol Of Turkey's Many Contradictions

Coach Özgür Gözüacik earned the respect of her players – and the attention of the media – after breaking into one of the world's most male-dominated professions: professional soccer. Istanbul’s sole female coach, the 29-year-old yearns for a championship.

More:Meet Istanbul’s Only Female Soccer Coach, Symbol Of Turkey's Many Contradictions - Worldcrunch - All News is Global

Digiturk adds six Viacom channels

Digiturk adds six Viacom channels
By Robert Briel
February 27, 2012 10.41 Europe/London

Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) has announced the signing of a new deal with satellite platform Digiturk that will see six of its channels air across the Turkish market for the next six years.

Digiturk, which serves the majority of Turkish pay-TV subscribers, will commence broadcasting MTV and MTV Live HD on March 1. This will be the first time that MTV’s HD channel has been made available in the Turkish market. The MTV flagship channel will be broadcast with localised Turkish language subtitles.

More:Digiturk adds six Viacom channels

Soccer-Turkey elects head to weather match-fixing storm | Reuters

Soccer-Turkey elects head to weather match-fixing storm

ISTANBUL | Mon Feb 27, 2012 6:47am EST

Feb 27 (Reuters) - The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) elected Besiktas' Yildirim Demiroren as its new chairman on Monday, setting him the task of quickly resolving a match-fixing crisis which has engulfed Turkey's domestic league this season.

More:Soccer-Turkey elects head to weather match-fixing storm | Reuters

Turks mark anniversary of attack in Karabakh war - Boston.com

Turks mark anniversary of attack in Karabakh war
February 26, 2012|Selcan Hacaoglu, Associated Press

Tens of thousands of Turks, vawing Azeri flags, rallied Sunday to mark the anniversary of a notorious attack that Azerbaijanis say killed hundreds of people during the 6-year war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan.

More:Turks mark anniversary of attack in Karabakh war - Boston.com

US has missile radar site in Turkey - World - The Boston Globe

US has missile radar site in Turkey
First confirmation that defense shield is up and running
By Dusan Stojanovic

PODGORICA, Montenegro - US forces are operating a new radar defense site in Turkey that could help defend Europe from a potential Iranian ballistic missile attack, the Army’s commander in Europe said yesterday.

“We have the forces in place . . . at a radar site in southern Turkey,’’ Lieutenant General Mark Hertling said in an interview at Montenegro’s main military airport in its capital.

More:US has missile radar site in Turkey - World - The Boston Globe

`Turkey a model for new Arab states`

'Turkey a model for new Arab states'
Last Updated: Monday, February 27, 2012, 13:01

Tags: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, Arab states
`Turkey a model for new Arab states` Dubai: With old establishments crumbling in the face of a democratic upsurge, a majority of people in the Arab world are looking up to Turkey as a political model that post-revolutionary states in the region should adopt.

More:`Turkey a model for new Arab states`

Jailed Turkish general stays fit for court battle | Reuters

Jailed Turkish general stays fit for court battle

By Can Sezer and Ece Toksabay

ISTANBUL | Mon Feb 27, 2012 2:22pm IST

(Reuters) - General Ilker Basbug, the former head of Turkey's armed forces, said military discipline has helped him adapt to prison life, but he still cannot accept the idea that he stands accused of being the leader of a terrorist group.

More:Jailed Turkish general stays fit for court battle | Reuters

Report: Turkey 'turns blind eye' to Syria arms shipments - Israel News, Ynetnews

Report: Turkey 'turns blind eye' to Syria arms shipments

Britain's The Times reports Syria using Turkey as route to bypass sanctions, obtain material and equipment for its weapons industry. Turkish FM: Report is 'nonsense'

More:Report: Turkey "turns blind eye" to Syria arms shipments - Israel News, Ynetnews

Besiktas beaten in Istanbul derby

Quaresma shines but Besiktas beaten in Istanbul derby

Galatasaray 3-2 Besiktas
Ricardo QuaresmaIn yet another exciting rendition of the Istanbul Derby, Besiktas’ courageous efforts were undone by defensive frailty, and the Black Eagles were made to concede a vital three points, all but surrendering the Super Lig title.

More:Besiktas beaten in Istanbul derby

Erdogan pledges Turkey’s support to Libya in transition - Trend

Erdogan pledges Turkey’s support to Libya in transition
27 February 2012, 04:52 (GMT+04:00)

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meeting with Libya's interim prime minister Abd al-Rahim al-Keeb in İstanbul on Saturday, said Turkey would continue to extend support to Libya, Today's Zaman reported.

"We have given full support to the Libyan transition process so far and we will continue our support to the country in the best way we could. I believe Libya will have transparent and fair elections, as it was scheduled to," Erdogan stated, referring to coming elections in June in Libya, during a joint press conference with al-Keeb.

More:Erdogan pledges Turkey’s support to Libya in transition - Trend

Israel to sell $1.6 billion in arms to Iran's neighbor Azerbaijan | Seattle Times Newspaper

Israel to sell $1.6 billion in arms to Iran's neighbor Azerbaijan

The sales come at a delicate time. Israel has been laboring hard to form diplomatic alliances in a region that seems to be growing increasingly hostile to the Jewish state.

More:Nation & World | Israel to sell $1.6 billion in arms to Iran's neighbor Azerbaijan | Seattle Times Newspaper

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Letter from Turkey Lastupdate:- Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:30:00 GMT GreaterKashmir.com

Letter from Turkey
… nation at a crossroads
HORIZONS BY DR.JAVID IQBAL
Smaller Default Larger

An aerial view, as the aircraft descends for a landing at Istanbul’s Ata Turk international airport, brings into focus, the wide expanse of Bosporus, the waterway provides the continental divide between Asia and Europe. Turkey, by the very nature of its geographical layout is a nation at crossroads, being one and only Eurasian State. The erstwhile Soviet Union could claim to be another; however with its break-up, the Central Asian States are an entity apart from European Russia.

More:Letter from Turkey Lastupdate:- Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:30:00 GMT GreaterKashmir.com

Turkish diplomacy: An attentive neighbour - FT.com

Turkish diplomacy: An attentive neighbour

By Daniel Dombey
Ankara is playing an increasingly active role in the Middle East but doubts remain about the real extent of the country’s influence. By Daniel Dombey

More:Turkish diplomacy: An attentive neighbour - FT.com

Extraordinary turnaround in Turkish policy: Voice of Russia

Extraordinary turnaround in Turkish policy
Tags: Politics, Interview, Syrian-Turkish relations, Commentary, Turkey, World
Kudashkina Ekaterina

Feb 26, 2012 21:49 Moscow Time

Interview with Gareth Jenkins – a senior associate fellow with the Silk Road Studies Program and Turkey Initiative with Jones Hopkins University.

Mr. Jenkins, thank you very much for joining us. So, what are your impressions of the visit?

They talked mostly about trade and I think they expressed a desire to boost it, bilateral trade at the moment is 24 billion and they are talking about quadrupling it to a hundred billion. But of course the problem of course concerns China most is that Turkey has got a huge imbalance in trade. So, I heard they discussed how to try to boost Turkish exports but things are going to be extremely difficult.

More:Extraordinary turnaround in Turkish policy: Voice of Russia

Complication in Turkey's quadruple limb transplant

Complication in Turkey's quadruple limb transplant
February 26, 2012 in Surgery

Turkish surgeons had to remove one leg from a patient who underwent a quadruple limb transplant after his heart and vascular system failed to sustain the limb, the hospital said on Sunday.

Fifty-two doctors from Ankara's Hacettepe University Hospital performed what was reported as the world's first-ever quadruple limb transplant on Friday, attaching two arms and two legs to Sevket Cavdar.

More:Complication in Turkey's quadruple limb transplant

AP Interview: US general says missile defense radar in Turkey ready to defend Europe - chicagotribune.com

AP Interview: US general says missile defense radar in Turkey ready to defend Europe

DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press

11:15 a.m. CST, February 26, 2012

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — American forces are now manning a new radar defense site in Turkey that could help defend Europe from a potential Iranian ballistic missile attack, the U.S. Army's commander in Europe said Sunday.

More:AP Interview: US general says missile defense radar in Turkey ready to defend Europe - chicagotribune.com

Turkey Goes Retro With Blockbuster Ottoman Film

Turkey Goes Retro With Blockbuster Ottoman Film

By Dorian Jones

February 26, 2012
ISTANBUL -- After the formation of the Turkish secular state on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, reference to the country's imperial era was generally frowned upon.

But the days of Turkey ignoring its past are history.

More:Turkey Goes Retro With Blockbuster Ottoman Film

Tens of thousands of Turks rally to mark anniversary of brutal attack in Karabakh war - The Washington Post

Tens of thousands of Turks rally to mark anniversary of brutal attack in Karabakh war

By Associated Press,

ANKARA, Turkey — Tens of thousands of Turks, vawing Azeri flags, rallied Sunday to mark the anniversary of a notorious attack that Azerbaijanis say killed hundreds of people during the 6-year war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan.

More:Tens of thousands of Turks rally to mark anniversary of brutal attack in Karabakh war - The Washington Post

Syrian fighting changes life in Turkish outpost

Syrian fighting changes life in Turkish outpost
Today at 16:06 | Associated Press
HACIPASA, Turkey (AP) — For generations, the economy of this Turkish hamlet has thrived on items such as livestock and cigarettes that are smuggled across the border from Syria in an area of lax security.

More:Kyiv Post. Independence. Community. Trust - World - Syrian fighting changes life in Turkish outpost

Turkey Ready To Train Libyan Security Forces

Turkey Ready To Train Libyan Security Forces

Written by: KUNA
February 26, 2012

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday Turkey was ready to train Libyan security forces and would continue its support to the North African country during this “sensitive phase.”

More:Turkey Ready To Train Libyan Security Forces

Libya wants Turkish companies to return

Libya wants Turkish companies to return

Sunday, 26 February 2012

By The Associated Press
ANKARA / TURKEY

Turkey’s prime minister called on Libya on Saturday to disband militia forces to restore security and assume full power in the country, even as his Libyan counterpart invited Turkish companies to return to Libya to finish construction projects worth billions of dollars.

More:Libya wants Turkish companies to return

Turkish man gets quadruple limb transplant

Turkish man gets quadruple limb transplant
08:19 AEDT Sun Feb 26 2012

The head physician at a Turkish hospital says his team has performed the world's first quadruple limb transplant, attaching two arms and two legs to a young man.

More:Turkish man gets quadruple limb transplant

Turkish women hit by abuse | Vestnik Kavkaza

Turkish women hit by abuse

Women are the victims of increasing violence in the eastern province of Van, where difficult conditions in the wake of last year’s devastating earthquakes are pushing residents to the brink, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

“[People] who did not used to live with their mothers- and fathers-in-law now [find] they have to live together with them. Slander and quarrels can sometimes arise between those who share the same tent with their relatives. Women [can be] subjected to violence from their fathers-in-law and their husbands,” said Esen Günay, a member of the Van Women’s Association (VAKAD).

More:Turkish women hit by abuse | Vestnik Kavkaza

Saturday, February 25, 2012

AFP: Turkey carries out world's first quadruple limb transplant

Turkey carries out world's first quadruple limb transplant

(AFP) – 8 hours ago

ANKARA — Turkish surgeons have performed the world's first-ever quadruple limb transplant at a university hospital in Ankara, the Anatolia news agency reported on Saturday.

"In such a big organ transplant... more than 50 percent of the (patient's) body has changed," Professor Murat Tuncer, rector of Ankara's Hacettepe University, told Anatolia.

More:AFP: Turkey carries out world's first quadruple limb transplant

Turkey calls on Libya to disband militia forces to restore security - The Washington Post

Turkey calls on Libya to disband militia forces to restore security

By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, February 25, 1:48 PM

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s prime minister has called on Libya to disband militia forces to restore security and assume full power in the country, even as his Libyan counterpart invited Turkish companies to return to Libya to finish construction projects worth billions of dollars.

More:Turkey calls on Libya to disband militia forces to restore security - The Washington Post

Turkey and Israel Keep Bonds Alive Through Music, 25 February 2012 Saturday 9:8

Turkey and Israel Keep Bonds Alive Through Music

Saturday, 25 February 2012

At a time of battered bilateral political relations, Turkish and Israeli musicians continue to bridge differences. Although music alone doesn't have the power to transcend all political problems, it does keep some level of people-to-people contact alive, helping to create better understanding between cultures.

More:Turkey and Israel Keep Bonds Alive Through Music, 25 February 2012 Saturday 9:8

Dutch MP tells Turkish minister that Turkey has no place in EU | Armenia News - NEWS.am

Dutch MP tells Turkish minister that Turkey has no place in EU

February 25, 2012 | 14:03

At the regular Turkey-EU parliamentary meeting, Dutch MP Barry Madlener once again criticized the curtailing of free speech in Turkey.

More:Dutch MP tells Turkish minister that Turkey has no place in EU | Armenia News - NEWS.am

Turkey 'owes' apology for deaths of Holocaust escapees

Turkey 'owes' apology for deaths of Holocaust escapees

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Ankara must show the courage to apologize for its role in the Struma tragedy in which 764 people died in the Black Sea after being neglected by Turkey while escaping from the Holocaust, a leading Jewish-Turkish business has said. “Just like German Chancellor Angela Merkel apologized for Turks who were murdered by neo-Nazis, Ankara must have the same courage,” İshak Alaton said.

More:LOCAL - Turkey "owes" apology for deaths of Holocaust escapees

Turkish PM: Khojaly tragedy is grief of entire Turkic world - Trend

Turkish PM: Khojaly tragedy is grief of entire Turkic world
25 February 2012, 16:20 (GMT+04:00)

Turkey, Istanbul, Feb. 25 / Trend R. Hafizoglu /

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement was read out at a conference in Istanbul, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Khojaly genocide.

More:Turkish PM: Khojaly tragedy is grief of entire Turkic world - Trend

Turkish Export Product Fair opens in Skopje :: EMGplus

Turkish Export Product Fair opens in Skopje

25. February 2012. | 08:42

Products from numerous fields will be presented - pharmaceutical and food industries, agriculture, packaging, hotel equipment, glassware, shoes, medicine, toys, education, tourism, security systems, furniture, textile, household appliances, fashion and construction materials.

More:Turkish Export Product Fair opens in Skopje :: EMGplus

Turkish hospital performs world’s first quadruple limb transplant - The Washington Post

Turkish hospital performs world’s first quadruple limb transplant

By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, February 25, 3:10 AM

ANKARA, Turkey — The head physician at a Turkish hospital says his team has performed the world’s first quadruple limb transplant, attaching two arms and two legs to a young man.

More:Turkish hospital performs world’s first quadruple limb transplant - The Washington Post

Turkey: Istanbul Remembers WWII Jewish Refugee Tragedy | EurasiaNet.org

Turkey: Istanbul Remembers WWII Jewish Refugee Tragedy
February 24, 2012 - 2:42pm, by David Trilling

When he first arrived in what was, back then, British-controlled Palestine, no one was especially interested in hearing David Stoliar’s astonishing story, even though he was the sole survivor of the sinking of the SS Struma, a rusting steamer with almost 800 Jewish refugees aboard when it was torpedoed off the Turkish coast.

More:Turkey: Istanbul Remembers WWII Jewish Refugee Tragedy | EurasiaNet.org

Friday, February 24, 2012

Secret £14million Bible in which 'Jesus predicts coming of Prophet Muhammad' unearthed in Turkey | Mail Online

Secret £14million Bible in which 'Jesus predicts coming of Prophet Muhammad' unearthed in Turkey

A secret Bible in which Jesus is believed to predict the coming of the Prophet Muhammad to Earth has sparked serious interest from the Vatican.

Pope Benedict XVI is claimed to want to see the 1,500-year-old book, which many say is the Gospel of Barnabas, that has been hidden by the Turkish state for the last 12 years.

More:Secret £14million Bible in which 'Jesus predicts coming of Prophet Muhammad' unearthed in Turkey | Mail Online

Official says 10 workers missing in flooding at dam construction site in Turkey - The Washington Post

Official says 10 workers missing in flooding at dam construction site in Turkey

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, February 24, 12:00 PM

ANKARA, Turkey — An official says a hatch inside a dam burst, causing flooding that has left 10 construction workers missing in southern Turkey.

Gov. Huseyin Avni Cos of Adana province said Friday that the hatch could not hold under high pressure after heavy rains.

More:Official says 10 workers missing in flooding at dam construction site in Turkey - The Washington Post

Turkish Lira Biggest Emerging-Market Loser as Oil Price Climbs - Businessweek

Turkish Lira Biggest Emerging-Market Loser as Oil Price Climbs
February 24, 2012, 11:16 AM EST

By Selcuk Gokoluk

Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The lira was the biggest-losing emerging-market currency against the dollar and yields rose the most in six weeks as rising oil prices revived concern on the current account deficit.

More:Turkish Lira Biggest Emerging-Market Loser as Oil Price Climbs - Businessweek

Syrian Army Deserters Battle Assad from Turkey - by Oliver Trenkamp

At first they served the regime, but now they are fighting against it. Operating out of southern Turkey, units of the Free Syrian Army, driven by hatred toward Assad, are infiltrating their home country and fighting soldiers loyal to the dictator.

Schafik, a 20-year-old who prefers not to provide his real name, is last in the rebel chain of command. Until about four weeks ago, he served in Syrian dictator Bashir Assad's army. As a soldier, he had been ordered to fire on men, women and children demonstrating against the regime. Now, he's waiting for orders in Turkey to fight against his former comrades-in-arms.

EU-DIGEST: Syrian Army Deserters Battle Assad from Turkey - by Oliver Trenkamp

Turkey's hard line on Syria questioned back home

Turkey's hard line on Syria questioned back home
February 24, 2012 11:00 AM
By Burak Akinci

ANKARA: The Turkish government may have won Western plaudits for its outspoken criticism of the Syrian regime but it stands accused in some quarters back home of losing influence over its neighbor as a result.

More:THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Middle East :: Turkey's hard line on Syria questioned back home

70 Turkish firms to take part in product expo - Latest - New Straits Times

70 Turkish firms to take part in product expo

KUALA LUMPUR: Some 70 Turkish companies are taking part in a three-day Turkish Products Exhibition to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) from March 1.

More:70 Turkish firms to take part in product expo - Latest - New Straits Times

UEFA Congress agenda announced for Istanbul – UEFA.com

UEFA Congress agenda announced for Istanbul

Published: Friday 24 February 2012, 10.47CET
The annual UEFA Congress meeting – the official gathering of UEFA's 53 member associations – will take place this year in Istanbul on Thursday 22 March, with a busy agenda in prospect.

More:UEFA Congress agenda announced for Istanbul – UEFA.com

APCO Launches In Turkey

APCO Launches In Turkey

EMEA

Holmes Report 24 Feb 2012

ISTANBUL--APCO has named Zeynep Dereli as MD of its new Istanbul office.

Prior to joining APCO, Dereli was general coordinator and founding member of the Istanbul think tank Turkish Policy Forum, and founding partner of Glow Communications. She also served as director of the Atlantic Council's Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum, an annual initiative that brings business and policy leaders together to discuss Eurasia's leading economic and energy challenges.

More:APCO Launches In Turkey

Turkish lira gets lift, but oil price concerns linger | Reuters

Turkish lira gets lift, but oil price concerns linger

ISTANBUL, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The Turkish lira gained respite on Friday, rising after a sell-off driven by concerns about the impact on the energy-dependent economy of rising oil prices, which remain a key risk, while bond yields climbed on profit-taking.

More:Turkish lira gets lift, but oil price concerns linger | Reuters

Turkey's Jewish narrative: tolerance and dark side - Boston.com

Turkey's Jewish narrative: tolerance and dark side

By Christopher Torchia
February 24, 2012

ISTANBUL—As Turkey welcomes Syrians fleeing violence, the anniversary Friday of the deaths of more than 750 Jewish refugees who were denied shelter by Turkey in World War II was a reminder of perennial tension between pragmatic and humanitarian impulses.

More:Turkey's Jewish narrative: tolerance and dark side - Boston.com

Eaton Agrees to Acquire Turkish Hose Manufacturer Polimer Kaucuk Sanayi ve Pazarlama A.S. - MarketWatch

Eaton Agrees to Acquire Turkish Hose Manufacturer Polimer Kaucuk Sanayi ve Pazarlama A.S.
Announces Increase in Full Year Earnings Per Share Guidance of $.03; Operating Earnings Per Share Guidance Raised by $.05

CLEVELAND, Feb 24, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation ETN +0.17% today announced it has agreed to acquire Polimer Kaucuk Sanayi ve Pazarlama A.S., a Turkish manufacturer of hydraulic and industrial hose. The company's headquarters are located near Istanbul and many of its products are sold globally under the SEL Hose brand name. The company's primary markets include construction, mining, agriculture, oil and gas, manufacturing, food and beverage, and chemicals. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions. Terms were not disclosed.

More:Eaton Agrees to Acquire Turkish Hose Manufacturer Polimer Kaucuk Sanayi ve Pazarlama A.S. - MarketWatch

Bagis slams EP members for visa requirements on Turkish citizens

Bagis slams EP members for visa requirements on Turkish citizens

Speaking at the 68th meeting of Turkey-EU Joint Parliament Commission in Istanbul, Turkish Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said yesterday that Turkey faced a double standard that no country in history has ever faced in its EU membership bid.

More:Bagis slams EP members for visa requirements on Turkish citizens

Turkey's Boyner Holding says buys 63 pct of retailer YKM | Reuters

Turkey's Boyner Holding says buys 63 pct of retailer YKM

ISTANBUL | Fri Feb 24, 2012 3:21am EST

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Turkish retail group Boyner Holding, which owns listed Boyner Magazacilik, said on Friday it acquired 63 percent of Turkish retailer YKM for 190 million lira ($108 million).

More:Turkey's Boyner Holding says buys 63 pct of retailer YKM | Reuters

Turkish Jan foreign tourist arrivals up 0.6 pct | Reuters

Turkish Jan foreign tourist arrivals up 0.6 pct

ISTANBUL | Fri Feb 24, 2012 4:07am EST

Feb 24 (Reuters) - The number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose 0.6 percent year-on-year in January to 0.98 million people, the Tourism Ministry said on Friday, after climbing 2.47 percent the previous month.

More:Turkish Jan foreign tourist arrivals up 0.6 pct | Reuters

Cyprus Red Cross Society: the Movement's newest member - AlertNet

Cyprus Red Cross Society: the Movement's newest member

24 Feb 2012 00:00

Source: member // International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - Switzerland

Why was the Cyprus Red Cross Society, which has existed as an independent organization since 1960, recognized only now?

When the Cyprus Red Cross Society applied for recognition in the past, beginning in 1971, it did not yet fulfil all the criteria for recognition as set out in the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The recent adoption by the Cyprus Red Cross Society of new statutory base instruments paved the way for the ICRC, on the basis of its statutory responsibilities and a thorough legal assessment of the Society's fulfilment of the 10 conditions for recognition, to proceed with recognition. We are happy to welcome the 188th National Society to be recognized as a component of the Movement.

More:Cyprus Red Cross Society: the Movement's newest member - AlertNet

The Free Syrian Army Front: Deserters Battle Assad from Turkey - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Deserters Battle Assad from Turkey

By Oliver Trenkamp, on the Turkish-Syrian Border

At first they served the regime, but now they are fighting against it. Operating out of southern Turkey, units of the Free Syrian Army, driven by hatred toward Assad, are infiltrating their home country and fighting soldiers loyal to the dictator. SPIEGEL ONLINE visits the troops.

Schafik, a 20-year-old who prefers not to provide his real name, is last in the rebel chain of command. Until about four weeks ago, he served in Syrian dictator Bashir Assad's army. As a soldier, he had been ordered to fire on men, women and children demonstrating against the regime. Now, he's waiting for orders to fight against his former comrades-in-arms.

More:The Free Syrian Army Front: Deserters Battle Assad from Turkey - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Turkey-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group issues statement on Khojaly genocide - Trend

Turkey-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group issues statement on Khojaly genocide
24 February 2012, 12:58 (GMT+04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.24 / Trend A.Taghiyeva /

The Turkey-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group issued a statement on the Khojaly tragedy yesterday, sharply condemning the events of Feb. 26, 1992, the Anadolu agency reported.

More:Turkey-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group issues statement on Khojaly genocide - Trend

Talking Turkey: Stop Calling this Repressive Regime a “Model Muslim Democracy” » Publications » Family Security Matters

Talking Turkey: Stop Calling this Repressive Regime a “Model Muslim Democracy”

Ralph Peters

Whenever an old alliance comes apart, our foreign-policy establishment behaves like the spouse who pretends away a partner’s ever-more-flagrant infidelities—hoping that patience and indulgence will somehow bring the straying party around. But real life doesn’t work that way for lovers or for states. When we look away from shameless betrayals, it only encourages further bad behavior.

More:Talking Turkey: Stop Calling this Repressive Regime a “Model Muslim Democracy” » Publications » Family Security Matters

Boyner Rises in Istanbul After Report Owner Is Buying YKM Chain - Bloomberg

Boyner Rises in Istanbul After Report Owner Is Buying YKM Chain
By Benjamin Harvey - Feb 24, 2012 3:14 AM ET

Boyner Buyuk Magazicilik AS (BOYNR), a Turkish department store chain, headed for the highest level since October after a report its owner has bought a majority stake in the YKM chain of department stores.

More:Boyner Rises in Istanbul After Report Owner Is Buying YKM Chain - Bloomberg

Lowest Savings After Ireland Means No Upgrades: Turkey Credit - Bloomberg

Lowest Savings After Ireland Means No Upgrades: Turkey Credit
By Benjamin Harvey - Feb 24, 2012 4:24 AM ET

Turkey, the fastest growing economy after China, is being penalized in the credit markets for its failure to promote consumer savings.

While Turkey’s economy has grown at an average pace of 5.9 percent since 2002 and its bonds are showing the fastest recovery among emerging markets from last year’s rout, its credit ratings are stuck at the same level as Serbia and Guatemala, whose economies are about a twentieth its size. That’s costing the country about $8 million more for every $1 billion it borrows on international markets than Russia, where the bond market is half the size of Turkey’s, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. EMBI indexes.

More:Lowest Savings After Ireland Means No Upgrades: Turkey Credit - Bloomberg

Global Chef Program provides students with a new dining experience | lehighvalleylive.com

Global Chef Program provides students with a new dining experience
Published: Wednesday, February 22, 2012, 7:10 PM Updated: Wednesday, February 22, 2012,

Lehigh Dining Services brought in chef Mehmet Yoldas of Turkey to prepare an array of Turkish dishes for students as a part of the Global Chef Program.

Yoldas has been traveling and cooking for four years in places like Italy, France, Spain, and Russia.

More:Global Chef Program provides students with a new dining experience | lehighvalleylive.com

President: Turkey’s aspirations conditional on a Cyprus solution

President: Turkey’s aspirations conditional on a Cyprus solution
FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE
• Fri, Feb 24, 2012
Turkey must cooperate for a Cyprus solution in order to materialize its policy priorities concerning the EU and the region, President Demetris Christofias said today.

While addressing the book presentation of the Head of the Presidency’s office of research on Turkish policy, Nikos Moudouros on “The transition of Turkey, from Kemalist dominance to Islamic neoliberalism”, the President spoke on the role of the Turkish leadership in sidelining the former leader of the Turkish Cypriot Community Rauf Denktash, while promoting the acceptance of the Annan Plan in 2004.

More:President: Turkey’s aspirations conditional on a Cyprus solution

Lockheed plans F-35 ramp up; Ankara talks turkey | Australian Aviation Magazine

Lockheed plans F-35 ramp up; Ankara talks turkey

Item by australianaviation.com.au at 12:57 pm, Friday February 24 2012

F-35B test aircraft BF-2 flies with external weapons pylons for the first time, on February 22. (Lockheed Martin)

Lockheed Martin says it is preparing to dramatically increase flight testing of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter this year, with plans including the first firing of live weapons.

More:Lockheed plans F-35 ramp up; Ankara talks turkey | Australian Aviation Magazine

Turkey is among FYR Macedonia's top ten trading partners

Turkey is among FYR Macedonia's top ten trading partners

Balkan Business News Correspondent - 24.02.2012

Turkish Export Product Fair, including 42 Turkish companies interested to invest in FYR Macedonia, opened in Skopje on Thursday.

Products from numerous fields will be presented - pharmaceutical and food industries, agriculture, packaging, hotel equipment, glassware, shoes, medicine, toys, education, tourism, security systems, furniture, textile, household appliances, fashion and construction materials.

More:Balkans.com Business News : Turkey is among FYR Macedonia's top ten trading partners

Global ‘Peace Thru Mediation’ moot opens in Istanbul today

Global ‘Peace Thru Mediation’ moot opens in Istanbul today
Hameed Shaheen

Islamabad—World’s biggest peace offensive initiative is to don the form of an international brain-storming event for two consecutive days from tomorrow, Feb 24-25, 2012, in Istanbul/Turkey, drawing peace promoter, diplomacy-builders, experts and academicians from all continents for collective input. This first ever Turkish initiative having support of the U N is to set a new diplomatic syllabus for resolution of disputes under “Enhancing Peace Through Mediation” raft, letting wider space to the NGOs, UN and Turkish vision of global mediation and alternatives, international reports said Thursday.

More:Global ‘Peace Thru Mediation’ moot opens in Istanbul today

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Appeals court tosses Armenian payments law | Seattle Times Newspaper

Appeals court tosses Armenian payments law

A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down a novel and controversial California law that allowed descendants of 1.5 million Armenians who perished in Turkey nearly a century ago to file claims against life insurance companies accused of reneging on policies.

More:Nation & World | Appeals court tosses Armenian payments law | Seattle Times Newspaper

Turkey's rolling out the red carpet for trade partners beyond Europe - The National

Turkey's rolling out the red carpet for trade partners beyond Europe

Thomas Seibert
Feb 24, 2012

ISTANBUL // Increased efforts by Turkey to attract Arab investors and improve relations with China are signs that Ankara is looking for new partners beyond Europe, analysts have said.

More:Turkey's rolling out the red carpet for trade partners beyond Europe - The National

Turkish lesson on Iran may aid West

Turkish lesson on Iran may aid West

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
West could learn constructive lessons from Turkey’s experience in engaging Iran’s disputed nuclear program, International Crisis Group’s latest report says

The West could use Turkey’s experience in engaging efforts to solve Iran’s disputed nuclear program, International Crisis Groups said in a report, warning that if the West does do its utmost to revive the diplomatic option, it runs the risk of cornering itself in a high-cost war for uncertain gains.

More:POLITICS - Turkish lesson on Iran may aid West

Syria unrest fuels local tensions in Turkey - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Syria unrest fuels local tensions in Turkey
While Syrian refugees seek intervention to topple Assad, Alawites reject any interference in neighbour's affairs.

Thousands of Syrians have fled to neighbouring Turkey seeking safety since the government cracked down on protesters. Many of them have been living in refugee camps in towns close to the Syria border for the last eight months.

More:Syria unrest fuels local tensions in Turkey - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

View: Turkey Leaders Fail to Live Up to Own Model - Bloomberg

View: Turkey Leaders Fail to Live Up to Own Model
Turkey Leaders

Illustration by Bloomberg View
By the Editors Feb 23, 2012 7:00 PM ET

It’s by now axiomatic that democratic, prosperous, NATO member Turkey offers a valuable model for more troubled countries in the Middle East to follow. That remains broadly true, but Turkey itself appears to be losing its way.

More:View: Turkey Leaders Fail to Live Up to Own Model - Bloomberg

Istiklal: The Heart (and Stomach) of Istanbul – Intelligent Travel

Istiklal: The Heart (and Stomach) of Istanbul

By Katherine Gypson

A Turkish friend once told me that to understand Turkey all you need to do is take a walk down Istiklal Caddesi — the main pedestrian shopping area of Istanbul that hums with energy late into the night and hosts everything from street musicians to sophisticated clubbing to protests. “Istiklal,” she said, “is the heart and soul of Turkey.”

More:Istiklal: The Heart (and Stomach) of Istanbul – Intelligent Travel

Middle East 'a foreign policy priority' for Turkey

Middle East 'a foreign policy priority' for Turkey

Thu 23 February 2012 06:24 GMT | 1:24 Local Time
Text size: bigger smaller
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News.Az interviews Sarah Akram, research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad.

How would you assess Turkey's role as a new leader of the Muslim world?

More:News.Az - Middle East 'a foreign policy priority' for Turkey

Chinese VP calls for efforts in boosting trade with Turkey | Economy | chinadaily.com.cn

Chinese VP calls for efforts in boosting trade with Turkey
Updated: 2012-02-23 13:34

ISTANBUL - Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping called here on Wednesday for more efforts in boosting trade and economic cooperation between China and Turkey.

Xi made the call when addressing a Sino-Turkish business forum in Istanbul. This is the final major event for Xi's stay in Turkey and for his three-nation tour.

More:Chinese VP calls for efforts in boosting trade with Turkey | Economy | chinadaily.com.cn

The Young Turks have some fun with the Voter Photo ID issue | MinnPost

The Young Turks have some fun with the Voter Photo ID issue
By Eric Black | 02/22/12

...The "Young Turks," a duo of satirist/commentators who have built a large audience online and now also appear on the cable channel "Current TV" (which, to make sure I push all the buttons, is affiliated with Al Gore), did a segment mocking what they considered racial stereotyping in the Minnesota Majority graphic, since the cartoon convict is a black man and the illegal immigrant is portrayed as man in mariachi costume and a sombrero.

The Young Turks (one of whom is actually a Turk or Turkey-born American but the other of whom is actually a young Armenian-American woman, which makes all the ethnic references in this post that much more stupefying and/or politically incorrect) mocked the flyer for a while, but also included the response of Minnesota Majority (which they also mocked)...

More:The Young Turks have some fun with the Voter Photo ID issue | MinnPost

Women stabbed over 50 times, Turkish court told - Courts, National News - Independent.ie

Women stabbed over 50 times, Turkish court told

By Mark Hilliard and David Davies

Thursday February 23 2012

THE two Irish women killed in Turkey last August had been stabbed over 50 times, a court heard yesterday.

Marion Graham (54), from Newry, and Cathy Dinsmore (53), from Warrenpoint in Co Down, were both killed in an attack by local man Recep Cetin, the boyfriend of Ms Graham's teenage daughter Shannon.

More:Women stabbed over 50 times, Turkish court told - Courts, National News - Independent.ie

Turkcell Predicts Revenue Will Climb as Much as 7.8% This Year - Bloomberg

Turkcell Predicts Revenue Will Climb as Much as 7.8% This Year
By Ercan Ersoy - Feb 22, 2012 8:25 PM ET

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (TCELL), Turkey’s biggest mobile phone operator, forecast that sales will increase in 2012 by as much as 7.8 percent to a range of 9.9 billion liras ($5.6 million) to 10.1 billion liras from 9.37 billion liras last year.

More:Turkcell Predicts Revenue Will Climb as Much as 7.8% This Year - Bloomberg

Jelimo is for Istanbul

Jelimo is for Istanbul
Thursday, 23 February 2012 00:28 BY WILLIAM NJUGUNA

Olympic 800m makes Kenya team to world indoor championship

Olympic 800 metre champion Pamela Jelimo leads Kenya hunt for medals at the world indoor championships between March 9-12 in Istanbul, Turkey. Jelimo who seems to be regaining her form of 2008 will lead eight others to the three day event in the Bosphorus. Jelimo hit a sub- 2 minute time in an indoor meeting in the French city of Lievin a week ago to signal her return to form and will be looking to send out a warning to her rivals that she is regaining her form ahead of the London 2012 Olympics in July.

More:Jelimo is for Istanbul

Denying the Right to Deny

Denying the Right to Deny
By RENÉ LEMARCHAND

The decision of the French Senate to give final approval to a bill that threatens deniers of the Armenian genocide with a fine of €45,000 or one year in jail, or both, is politically inept and ethically objectionable. Although France’s Constitutional Council has yet to issue a ruling on the constitutionality of the law, it is not too early to denounce the limitation it sets on freedom of expression.

More:Denying the Right to Deny - NYTimes.com

MİT Istanbul Regional Chairman Dismissed - Bianet

MİT Istanbul Regional Chairman Dismissed

After a series of changes in the personnel of the police and the judiciary pursuant to the summoning of MİT officials to give their statements, now the MİT Istanbul Regional Chairman was deposed form office.
Ankara - BİA News Center

After top rank executives of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) had been summoned to give their statements about two weeks ago, a series of new appointments at the police and the judiciary had followed. Now, a new change of personnel was announced for the MİT.

More:English :: MİT Istanbul Regional Chairman Dismissed - Bianet

United Airlines to introduce daily New York - Istanbul service - {Travel Daily News}

United Airlines to introduce daily New York - Istanbul service
Thursday, February 23, 2012

United Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Continental Holdings, Inc. announced plans to launch daily, nonstop flights between its New York hub, Newark Liberty International Airport, and Istanbul, effective July 1, 2012, subject to government approval. Westbound service from Istanbul begins July 2.

More:United Airlines to introduce daily New York - Istanbul service - {Travel Daily News}

Madonna concert Istanbul : Tickets on sale Feb 24 !

Madonna concert Istanbul : Tickets on sale Feb 24 !

Tickets for Madonna ‘s much awaited concert in Istanbul, Turkey will be on sale Feb 24.

Istanbul / NationalTurk – Madonna will perform at Türk Telekom Arena in Istanbul on June 7 as part of her Madonna World Tour 2012. Madonna will be toring for the first time in three years.

Tickets for the upcoming Madonna concert , which will take place on June 7 at Istanbul’s Türk Telekom Arena will go on sale Feb. 24 at 10 a.m.

More:Madonna concert Istanbul : Tickets on sale Feb 24 !

Frontier front: Syrian rebels trapped near Turkey — RT

Frontier front: Syrian rebels trapped near Turkey

Published: 23 February, 2012, 15:58

Syrian frontier guards are battling militants who have infiltrated from Turkey, as the army deploys troops to quash hostile forces trapped in the mountains. The clashes highlight claims outside forces are actively fueling the conflict in Syria.

More:Frontier front: Syrian rebels trapped near Turkey — RT

Turkey Starts Nuclear Talks with China, 23 February 2012 Thursday 10:37

Turkey Starts Nuclear Talks with China

Thursday, 23 February 2012

Ankara and Beijing will start talks on a planned Turkish nuclear power plant soon, says Deputy PM Ali Babacan. The two countries may also develop stronger banking ties, he says during Chinese Vice President Xi’s visit to Istanbul , noting that Turkey’s doors were wide open for Chinese banks.

More:Turkey Starts Nuclear Talks with China, 23 February 2012 Thursday 10:37

1500 year-old ‘ Syriac ‘ Bible found in Ankara, Turkey : Vatican in shock !

1500 year-old ‘ Syriac ‘ Bible found in Ankara, Turkey : Vatican in shock !
23 Şubat, 2012 | 11:45
Ancient Bible in Aramaic dialected Syriac rediscovered in Turkey

Ancient Bible in Aramaic dialected Syriac rediscovered in Turkey
The relic was ‘rediscovered’ in the depositum of Ankaran Justice Palace, the ancient version of bible is believed to be written in Syriac, a dialect of the native language of Jesus.

More:1500 year-old ‘ Syriac ‘ Bible found in Ankara, Turkey : Vatican in shock !

Turkey’s political in-fighting: Erdogan at bay | The Economist

Turkey’s political in-fighting
Erdogan at bay
The Turkish prime minister faces new enemies both at home and abroad

Feb 25th 2012 | ANKARA |
FOR nine years Turkey’s prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has moved smoothly from one victory to another, winning three elections in a row with a bigger share of the vote each time. He has seen off coup plots by once-omnipotent generals and attempts by their cronies in the judiciary to ban his mildly Islamist Justice and Development (AK) party. So far the economy has survived the financial crisis largely unscathed. And although membership talks with the European Union are stuck, relations with America are (in the words of the foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, who recently spent five hours with Hillary Clinton) in “a golden age”.

More:Turkey’s political in-fighting: Erdogan at bay | The Economist

Ataturk’s image: A secularist’s lament | The Economist

Ataturk’s image
A secularist’s lament
The cult of Ataturk may be slowly weakening

Feb 25th 2012 | ANKARA | from the print edition

Statue with feet of clay?

EVERY November 10th, at 9.05am precisely, sirens wail, the traffic stops and pedestrians stand in silence to pay their respects to Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, who died at that time in 1938. A military hero who rescued Turkey at the end of the first world war, Ataturk invented a new identity from the old Ottoman empire. It was Ataturk’s embrace of rigid secularism and Western reforms that underlay Turkey’s recovery.

More:Ataturk’s image: A secularist’s lament | The Economist

In Heavy Waters: Iran’s Nuclear Program, the Risk of War and Lessons from Turkey - International Crisis Group

In Heavy Waters: Iran’s Nuclear Program, the Risk of War and Lessons from Turkey

Middle East and Europe Report N°116 23 Feb 2012

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The dramatic escalation in Israel’s rhetoric aimed at Iran could well be sheer bluff, a twin message to Tehran to halt its nuclear activities and to the international community to heighten its pressure to that end. Or not. As Israel sees it, the nuclear program represents a serious threat; the time when Iran’s putative efforts to build a bomb will become immune to a strike is fast approaching; and military action in the near future – perhaps as early as this year – therefore is a real possibility. While it is widely acknowledged in the West that war could have devastating consequences, and while U.S. and European efforts to restrain Israel are welcome, their current approach – ever-tightening economic sanctions designed to make Tehran bend – has almost no chance of producing an Iranian climb­down anytime soon. Far from a substitute to war, it could end up being a conduit to it. As 2012 begins, prospects of a military confrontation, although still unlikely, appear higher than ever.

More:In Heavy Waters: Iran’s Nuclear Program, the Risk of War and Lessons from Turkey - International Crisis Group

Turkey Slapped for Ironic Chilling of Press

Turkey Slapped for Ironic Chilling of Press
By ADAM KLASFELD

(CN) - Turkish courts should not have fined a writer roughly $5,700 for two scathing editorials that criticized the prosecution of journalists by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the European Court of Human Rights ruled.
Erbil Tusalp, 67, has written several books and contributes columns to the daily newspaper Birgün, two of which landed him in the government's crosshairs.

More:Courthouse News Service

RIGHTS - CPJ slams legal treatment towards scribes in Turkey

CPJ slams legal treatment towards scribes in Turkey

NEW YORK - Hürriyet Daily News

A recent analysis published on the website of Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) slams the treatment of journalists in Turkey, saying that many journalists - especially Kurdish and leftist sympathizers - face extremely harsh legal treatment.

More:RIGHTS - CPJ slams legal treatment towards scribes in Turkey

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Rotterdam to welcome Turkish contemporary art next month

Rotterdam to welcome Turkish contemporary art next month

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Istanbul Modern is readying to take a fine selection from its Turkish contemporary art collection to Istanbul’ssister city Rotterdam as part of the celebrations to mark the fourth centennial of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the Netherlands and Turkey. The museum’s curator Levent Çalıkoğlu explained the project

More:EXHIBITIONS - Rotterdam to welcome Turkish contemporary art next month

Turkey's Internet Tiger Shows Signs of Stirring - WSJ.com

Turkey's Internet Tiger Shows Signs of Stirring

By BEN ROONEY

Turkey has that most scarce, yet highly sought-after, attribute among European economies: growth. With this rising tide, is now the time for investors to be contemplating Turkey's growing Internet economy?

More:Turkey's Internet Tiger Shows Signs of Stirring - WSJ.com

No more concessions, says Ankara

No more concessions, says Ankara
By Lénaïc Vaudin d'Imécourt | Wednesday 22 February 2012

Ankara feels that enough is enough, it has already done its part in attempting to push its EU membership negotiations forward and will not make any more concessions, Turkey's newly appointed Ambassador to the EU, Selim Yenel, told a conference, on 21 February, on Turkey's priorities and challenges in 2012.

While he conceded that his country’s relationship with the bloc was at a very low point, he said that his mission was to “prevent things from getting worse”. He said that Ankara had nothing left to offer to the EU and that his government was “fed up” with the current stalemate.

More:Europolitics

Istanbul becomes hub of aesthetic operations

Istanbul becomes hub of aesthetic operations

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency
Recently, Istanbul has become an important center for health tourism. Many are coming to the city for aesthetic and cosmetic surgery, such as nose surgery, eyelid, face and abdominal lifting, hair transplantation and liposuction. According to officials, 350,000 tourists come to Turkey every year for medical reasons

More:HEALTH - Istanbul becomes hub of aesthetic operations

Two Turks in Euro-Jewish Parliament

Two Turks in Euro-Jewish Parliament

BRUSSELS - Anatolia News Agency
More than 400,000 Jewish people living in Europe have chosen their “deputies” by casting their votes via internet and two of these 120 deputies are from Turkey.

More:EUROPE - Two Turks in Euro-Jewish Parliament

Chinese VP Addresses Business Forum in Istanbul

Chinese VP Addresses Business Forum in Istanbul
2012-02-22 17:15:08
Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping addressed a Sino-Turkish business forum in Istanbul on Wednesday, calling for joint efforts to boost bilateral trade and economic cooperation into a higher level.

This is the final major event for Xi's stay in Turkey and for his three-nation tour.

More:Chinese VP Addresses Business Forum in Istanbul

Khojaly refugee gives interview to Turkish media

Khojaly refugee gives interview to Turkish media

Wed 22 February 2012 07:31 GMT | 2:31 Local Time
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A young woman born in Khojaly has told a Turkish newspaper why she wrote to the Armenian and French presidents about the massacre in her town.

More:News.Az - Khojaly refugee gives interview to Turkish media

Salehi: Other countries besides Turkey may be ready to host talks with G5+1

Salehi: Other countries besides Turkey may be ready to host talks with G5+1

Tehran, Feb 21, IRNA – Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Tuesday that Turkey is ready to host talks between Iran and G5+1 but other countries might voice readiness to play hosts to the negotiations.

More:Salehi: Other countries besides Turkey may be ready to host talks with G5+1

Turkey's EU hopes drift amid financial uncertainty

If a project has no deadline, is it really a project? What do you call a negotiation process in which the partners can't talk about key issues? These are existential times for Turkey's campaign to join the European Union -- an ambitious vision that has become increasingly ambiguous.

At a time when Greece's survival in the eurozone is in jeopardy, it seems academic to debate a Turkish entry to European ranks that some Turks feel won't happen in their lifetime, if at all. The more pressing question is whether the suitors should, as with any soured romance, call it quits or rekindle the flame.

When accession talks began in 2005, the idea was that Turkey's Muslim population would enrich the continent, culturally and economically, with Turkey itself destined to become a European-style democracy that could serve as an east-west bridge. More than six years later, doubt haunts hope. Economic troubles mean that Europe, where skepticism toward the Turkish bid was already building, has little energy to expand, while in Turkey reform efforts have slowed and the nation has sought to carve out a leadership role in the Middle East.

"Without a deadline, without a final aim, there is no process," said Cengiz Aktar, a political science professor at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul. "There can't be an endless project."

For more: EU-DIGEST: Turkey's EU hopes drift amid financial uncertainty

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Turkish stars to walk red carpet at MIFF

Turkish stars to walk red carpet at MIFF
Times News Service
Wed Feb 22 2012 07:37:30 GMT+0400 (Arabian Standard Time) Oman Time

Muscat: Two Turkish actors, both favourite with Arab cinegoers, are going to be a major attraction at the Seventh Muscat International Film Festival (MIFF).

Kivanc Tatlitug and Songul Oden — better known by their popular screen names Muhannad and Noor — will grace the Red Carpet on March 31 and will also be honoured at the MIFF on the same day.

More:Times of Oman

Istanbul Modern presents selection from its photography collection

Istanbul Modern presents selection from its photography collection

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
An exhibition at Istanbul Modern brings together modern and contemporary examples of photography in Turkey, displaying its technical and conceptual development

Istanbul Modern is hosting After Yesterday, a selection of its photography collection gathered since the museum’s founding. Featuring 179 works by 53 artists, the show will be held between Feb. 16 and June 3 at the Istanbul Modern Photography Gallery and on the museum’s ground floor. A further 66 works by 213 artists will also be on display in digital format.

More:EXHIBITIONS - Istanbul Modern presents selection from its photography collection

Friendly Turkish people highlight of travel|Society|chinadaily.com.cn

Friendly Turkish people highlight of travel
Updated: 2012-02-22 07:56
By Cang Wei (China Daily)

NANJING - Overjoyed at the fantastic scenery of the Bosporus and the Blue Mosque, tourist Niu Dawei said that the unexpected enthusiasm of Turkish people was an even greater pleasure.

"If I stayed at the roadside by myself for more than five seconds, Turkish passers-by would ask me if I needed any help," said the 32-year-old, who traveled to Turkey in 2011.

More:Friendly Turkish people highlight of travel|Society|chinadaily.com.cn

Silk Road reopens to cultural exchanges|Xi is visit to Turkey|chinadaily.com.cn

Silk Road reopens to cultural exchanges
Updated: 2012-02-22 08:18
By Chen Nan (China Daily)

BEIJING - Exchanges between China and Turkey began more than 2,000 years ago as a result of the ancient Silk Road.

To commemorate 40 years of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Turkey and to develop cultural ties between the two countries, events for the Year of China in Turkey are set to create the ambience of a new silk road.

More:Silk Road reopens to cultural exchanges|Xi is visit to Turkey|chinadaily.com.cn

Turkey reaches out to its minorities in another step for writing new constitution - The National

Turkey reaches out to its minorities in another step for writing new constitution

Thomas Seibert
Feb 22, 2012

ISTANBUL // Leaders of Turkey's small Christian community have hailed as historic a meeting with Turkish lawmakers to discuss the country's new constitution, but the visit also highlighted the challenge of securing rights of minorities in this mostly Muslim nation.

More:Turkey reaches out to its minorities in another step for writing new constitution - The National

Erciyes to rival the Alps as winter tourism center

Erciyes to rival the Alps as winter tourism center

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

The Kayseri municipality has embarked on an ambitious project to convert Turkey’s Mount Erciyes into the world’s second leading winter tourism center after the European Alps.

More:TOURISM - Erciyes to rival the Alps as winter tourism center

Turkish Stocks: Denizbank, Turk Telekom Active in Istanbul - Bloomberg

Turkish Stocks: Denizbank, Turk Telekom Active in Istanbul
By Benjamin Harvey - Feb 21, 2012 12:13 PM ET

Turkey’s benchmark ISE National 100 Index (XU100) fell 0.3 percent to 61,252.83 at the 5:30 p.m. close in Istanbul, paring four days of gains.

The following stocks were active. Stock symbols are in parentheses.

Denizbank AS (DENIZ) , Dexia SA (DEXB)’s unit in Turkey, advanced 1.6 percent to 13.05 liras, the highest level in almost two weeks. There is a “plan B” should a sale of the bank by Dexia fall through and it will increase profitability, chief executive Hakan Ates told reporters in Istanbul today. Qatar National Bank SAQ’s talks to acquire Denizbank are stalled over price and may collapse, people with knowledge of the process said on Feb. 18.

More:Turkish Stocks: Denizbank, Turk Telekom Active in Istanbul - Bloomberg

Two new stores coming to Menlo Park Mall | MyCentralJersey.com | MyCentralJersey.com

Two new stores coming to Menlo Park Mall
3:27 PM, Feb. 21, 2012 |

EDISON — A mobile phone one-stop shop, a boutique offering distinctive and colorful carry-alls, and a Middle Eastern restaurant making its U.S. debut are among the new tenants that recently opened or will open in the coming months at Menlo Park Mall, spokeswoman Suzy Lichter said.

More:Two new stores coming to Menlo Park Mall | MyCentralJersey.com | MyCentralJersey.com

Dutch masterpieces seal bond with Turkey | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Dutch masterpieces seal bond with Turkey
Published on : 21 February 2012 - 9:17pm | By Bram Vermeulen ((C) Rijsmuseum Amsterdam)

Several museums in Istanbul are holding major exhibitions of famous Dutch paintings to mark 400 years of diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Netherlands. Ties between the two countries go back to 1612, when Cornelis Haga presented his credentials to Sultan Ahmet I as the first ambassador the Dutch Republic sent to the Ottoman Empire.

More:Dutch masterpieces seal bond with Turkey | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Turkish officials ignored Dink murder plot -report - AlertNet

Turkish officials ignored Dink murder plot -report

21 Feb 2012 18:19

By Jonathon Burch

ANKARA, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Turkish state officials failed to protect prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, murdered in 2007, despite knowing of the plot to kill him, a report commissioned by the president has concluded.

More:Turkish officials ignored Dink murder plot -report - AlertNet

Turkish university commemorates victims of Khojaly

Turkish university commemorates victims of Khojaly

Tue 21 February 2012 16:41 GMT | 11:41 Local Time

A conference marking the 20th anniversary of Khojaly genocide took place at the Giresun University, Turkey.

More:News.Az - Turkish university commemorates victims of Khojaly

Turkey's EU hopes drift amid financial uncertainty | CTV News

Turkey's EU hopes drift amid financial uncertainty

The Associated Press

Date: Tuesday Feb. 21, 2012 9:53 AM ET

ISTANBUL, Turkey — If a project has no deadline, is it really a project? What do you call a negotiation process in which the partners can't talk about key issues? These are existential times for Turkey's campaign to join the European Union -- an ambitious vision that has become increasingly ambiguous.

More:Turkey's EU hopes drift amid financial uncertainty | CTV News

Turkish Lira Falls as Central Bank Cuts Overnight Lending Rates - WSJ.com

Turkish Lira Falls as Central Bank Cuts Overnight Lending Rate

BY JOE PARKINSON

ISTANBUL—The Turkish lira fell on Tuesday as Turkey's central bank unexpectedly cut its overnight lending rates and issued a more dovish assessment of global monetary conditions.

More:Turkish Lira Falls as Central Bank Cuts Overnight Lending Rates - WSJ.com

Turkish officials found negligent in Dink murder - AlertNet

Turkish officials found negligent in Dink murder

21 Feb 2012 15:56

ANKARA, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Negligence by Turkish state officials led to the 2007 killing of prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, and a flawed murder investigation undermined public trust in the security services, a report commissioned by the president has concluded.

More:Turkish officials found negligent in Dink murder - AlertNet