Turkey which is supposed to have taken giant steps towards "ADVANCED" democracy as often worded by the ruling AK PARTY officials has been receiving some truly harsh criticism not only from local opposition but also from foreign press and related opinion leaders abroad. As a recent undesired event for instance four students were sentenced to between one and 13 years in prison on terror charges after selling ...

Turkish stones were not in demand in 1990s In 1990s Turkish Stones were not well known in the World.. We were having difficulty trying to sell our stones for even low prices. To be even worse we were not educated about more technical issues such as marketing and exportation. We did not have standards either.Business people involved in this sector did not have good education at the time. The global increase ...

Prime Minister Mr. Erdoğan has made a very interesting remark recently saying "Government's goal was to raise religious generations". This certainly drew much criticism from many opinion leaders as well as journalists who say in a democracy it is not within the responsibilities of the authority of a government to interfere in the religious affairs of a generation. Hasan Cemal, one of the most prominent jour ...

For those people who would like to have a more detailed information and feel about the way life goes in Turkey, we would like to refer a site called www.mymerhaba.com. The site is published by ex-patriates in Turkey and meant to serve as an essential source; a community portal, for foreign citizens living in, working in, studying in, or just passing through, Turkey. For those who would consider settling in ...

BEBEK KAHVESI (Cafe) is one of the most popular spots in Istanbul.. It is a must spot should you ever pass by BEBEK - a very elite quarter of the town.. It has been a truly popular place for a long time..  Nothing luxurious..  It has been run by the same people for years and everything is set up to get relaxed and listen to the Bosphorus Bebek Cafe is a pleasant  environment and a perfect spot to relax with ...

As it looks so far, Turkey has successfully survived the European crisis at a time when many economies in the EU have failed. Whether we are pleased with all practices of the present administration or not, it would be fair to say this has mostly been due to political stability and the strong leadership of the politicians in power, and PM Erdoğan to have the biggest praise, certainly. The government has disp ...

Turkey is ashamed of the verdict announced by the court which has sentenced one of the suspects to aggravated life imprisonment for “instigating” Hrant Dink’s (Turkish journalist of Armenian origin) murder. Another suspect was not sentenced in the case, however he was charged with ten years and six months in “the Mc Donald’s explosion” case. The court also ruled that all suspects in the case be exonerated f ...

Mehmet Ali Birand, the Turkish journalist had an interview with Mr. Tayyip Erdoğan, the Prime Minister of Turkey. Birand forwarded some interesting and important questions details of which you can read below. Editor, BTT INTERVIEW WITH PM ERDOĞAN Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan: I don’t have cancer MEHMET ALİ BİRAND Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. DHA photoI am sure you too were curious about th ...

It is clearly understood from the messages delivered by Central Bank of Turkey that it will be essential to maintain the flexibility  in monetary policies as we are very likely due to face high level of uncertainties about the course of global economy in 2012, as well. Another important message is that CBRT is determined to enhance its communication strategy in order to increase the predictability by the ma ...

The founder and the first president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Rauf Raif Denktaş, was born on Jan. 27, 1924, in Paphos to judge Raif Mehmet Bey and Enime Hanım, Turkish Cypriots. He graduated from The English School, Nicosia in Cyprus. Following his graduation, he worked as a translator in Famagusta, then as a court clerk and then as a teacher for one year in the English School. He later we ...

Turkey ranks 73 out of 184 countries in terms of economic freedom, way below many developed countries, according to a Heritage Foundation and Wall Street index New buildings rise in Istanbul’s Ataşehir on the Asian side, where the government is planning to found a finance center. Turkey lags in economic freedom, a recent study says.While Turkey dreams of being among the world’s top 10 financial centers by 2 ...

Rauf Denktaş was the first Turkish Cypriot president.Former Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktaş died due to internal organ failure in Nicosia today. He was 88 years old. Denktaş was first hospitalized in May 2011 following complaints stemming from high blood pressure and later underwent brain surgery in Ankara. He was admitted to a hospital in Nicosia on Jan. 5 following complaints of diarrhea and fatigu ...

Turkey enjoys positive economical indicators achieved in 2011 showing its unavoidable rise to become the shining star of Europe (and the world) by 2023. In fact, the government officials have announced that the export target for 2012 is forecasted as US$ 149 billion with an increase of approximately 10 percent as compared to US$ 132 billion in 2011. When we look at the economies in Europe particularly, we c ...

The Cittaslow movement is spreading around the world. As Seferihisar, Akyaka, Gökçeada, Taraklı and Yenipazar become official members, Turkey becomes another of the growing number of countries identifying with concepts of slow tourism and trade aiming improve quality of life for everyone and open new dimensions within people’s lives Turkey’s Seferihisar, Akyaka, Taraklı, Gökçeada and Yenipazar are now parts ...

We have witnessed a very extraordinary year in 2011 and we are obviously going to live through a more challenging year in 2012 as there are so many conflicts to attend to in all parts of the world not to forget a new global crisis waiting at our door. Only with self awareness displayed by our “human” brothers and sisters and conscience – a virtue gifted by God to human – may we be able to cope with the toug ...

Just before we are about to finish a year full of problems and major challenges for the world, Turkey seems to have performed well up to expectations and is able to look at the coming year (2012) with much more self-confidence. In fact, it has been among few countries with top GPD growth in 2011 on top of its success in handling major political issues on the int'l arena. In the meantime, Central Bank govern ...

In the past (not until long ago) Turkey was only regarded as a loyal ally of the USA and known not to be very active in the world in terms of political issues. It was so to say a humble and low-profile player. After Erdoğan and his team started to take office, things have changed gradually and many opinion leaders have soon started to notice the world was to address a global player from then on. To comply w ...

You are a foreigner (a business person) visiting Istanbul on a business trip.. You have the weekend off before (or after) a meeting and would like to make the best out of it.. But, Istanbul is such a giant and complicated city you need to have advice what to do, where to go etc.. Well here we are to guide you - besides many other sources on the net, certainly .. First, it would be best to have a quick look ...

It is reported that the number of foreign tourists visiting ISTANBUL has gone up by 16 percent in the first 11 months of this year. Istanbul one of the most mysterious and multicultured megapoles in the world has become more and more popular in the recent years in parallel to the increasing role Turkey plays in the world political arena, on top of the fact millions are now interested in discovering places o ...

Turkey which has been suffering Iraq conflict for a long time since the beginning of invasion by American troops, is now to face an even more cruical eventual trouble. The developments in Iraq last week were of a kind to make Turkey focus on the undesired possibility of a division in Iraq which would be a real headache for Ankara. Turkey has been trying to improve its relations with Iraq all this time, in s ...

French Parliament has passed a bill to penalize the denial of the (so-said) Armenian “genocide”, today. Paris had officially recognized the killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917 as genocide, earlier. Reverting to the session at the parliament, A french deputy has commented saying "France challenged many obstacles to live this day and it could be marked as a historic human rights d ...

If the French parliament passes the genocide bill on Thursday (22nd Dec 2011) everybody will be holding their breath to see what Ankara has to say. Many people (Turks to be in the first place) believe Turkey should consider retaliating by boycotting trade with France to include civil boycott of French goods by Turkish people. Some other say Turkey should pass a bill in the parliament saying what France did ...

After 9 years of blood and tears in Iraq the United States troops have left this country. They came to bring democracy whereas in the end they only brought death and misery. The region has been in a turmoil since the Americans started the invasion of Iraq and to the contrary of hopes and expectations the only accomplishment in the region was the plans made about "how oil resources should be shared between e ...