The number of Turkish tourists visiting the Greek islands has increased. Turkish tourists have begun to travel to the Greek islands of Rhodes, Kos, Samos, Chios and Lesvos in the Eastern Aegean in record numbers after the Greek government moved to ease visa restrictions against non-EU citizens at its ports. “The only breath of fresh air we have been able to breathe has been from the Turks,” said Aris Lazari ...

Turkcell General Manager Ciliv states that while Europe was in crisis, they managed to double investments and closed the gap with the West. “We are number one when it comes to population coverage,” says Ciliv. Turkcell General Manager Süreyya Ciliv was a guest on a television program entitled "İş'te Hayat", broadcasted on aHaber. Emphasizing that during the period of time when the world entered into the eco ...

At the beginning of 2012 strong conservative growth forecasts were made. This was in spite of the fact Turkey had grown real fast in the last decade. At that time some were concerned that this slowdown forecast meant that growth could stop. In a way this was understandable because the retail sector in specific is normally quite vulnerable to such economic developments and real fast. However Turkey is lucky ...

Central Bank revises year-end CPI down to 6.98 pct. Turkish Central Bank revised the year-end consumer prices index down to 6.98 percent in its second term survey of expectation for July 2012. The year-end CPI had been 7.02 percent in the first term survey for July 2012 of the Central Bank. The bank's expectation for year-end current account deficit dropped to 63.4 billion USD from 63.8 billion USD. Expecta ...

Turkey country which haas shown some remarkable economic performance recently has drawn much attention from global observers. In fact this has been verified by int'l reputable establishments such as Moody's by furnishing Turkey with higher creditentials. Most recently another world reputable establishment, namely Financial Times has also given Turkey another reason to boast for its excellent achievement by ...

As the Focus in Europe Turns to Spain, Turkey Prepares for More Growth The European debt crisis is well into its third year and counting, leaving many to suggest that the more appropriate word be “conundrum”, since the urgency of the situation is more ongoing than sudden.  Greece, Ireland and Portugal have received bailout funds, but the recent focus has been on Spain, with Italy waiting in the shadows and ...

Tüpraş tops Fortune 500 list Despite the European crisis, Turkish firms increased net sales by 22 pct in 2011 with Tüpraş and Turkish Airlines being the best performers on Turkey’s Fortune 500 list The massive complex of the Tüpraş oil refinery at Aliağa in northwestern Turkey is seen in this photo. Tüpraş has increased its sales revenues by 58 percent since last year earning it the top spot on Turkey’s For ...

The Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) on Thursday affirmed Turkey's foreign currency rating as "stable" and revised the country's local currency rating outlook to "positive" from "stable". ISTANBUL- In a written statement released Thursday, JCR said that the Turkish economy which weathered the impact of the global financial crisis without any financial support from the IMF achieved a high economic growth fro ...

Turkey looks to quicken its pace in selecting a $4 billion air defense bid winner after fire from Syrian forces brought down one of its warplanes last week Turkey sends missile batteries, tanks and troops to the border with Syria after the Syrian forces shot down a Turkish military jet last week. Military vehicles loaded with army personnel also carry low-altitude air defense systems and anti-aircraft guns. ...

Turkey sends missile batteries to tense Syria borderTurkey has sent missile batteries, tanks and troops to the border with Syria as a "security corridor", almost a week after the Syrian downing of a Turkish military jet, media reports said on Thursday. ISTANBUL- There was no official confirmation of the military moves, which came after Turkey branded its former ally a "clear and imminent threat" following F ...

The leaders of the world's major powers will seek to buy the global economy some breathing space at the G20 summit Monday with new support for an IMF financial firewall and for Greece. LOS CABOS- European leaders were relieved to be able to attend the summit after clearing the hurdle of Sunday's pivotal Greek election, which gave parties that support Athens' EU and IMF-led bailout terms a parliamentary majo ...

Deposits worth up to 400 million euros have been transferred to Turkish banks as Greeks withdraw money from domestic banks, a media report says. Central banks check their ammunition before the crucial Greek vote Greeks withdrew about 800 million euros out of the banking system between May 7 and 14, according to President Karolos Papoulias.Greek depositors have moved some of the money they have withdrawn lat ...

According to an official survey Turkish unemployment drops to 9.9 percent. It is observed that among worries of Europe (and the world) bumping into another big crisis, Turkey's economy keeps doing well. Accordingly, the unemployment figure declined to 9.9 percent of the workforce in the three months from February to April, from 10.8 percent in the same period in 2011, based on official data announced on Fri ...

Turkish FDI rise 25 pct in 2 months The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Turkey increased 25 percent to $1.7 billion during the first two months of the year compared with the same period last year, Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan said May 4. Investments constitute the cornerstone of government policy on maintaining economic development, sustainability of growth and improving the national develop ...

OECD: Turkey gives a helping hand worldwide According to the OECD data, Turkey increased its official development figures by 38.2 percent, at a time when developed countries are implementing austerity measures to prevent the global crisis from worsening and decreasing their international development aids. A report prepared by OECD indicates that international development aids fell by 2.8 percent to decrease ...

OVERVIEW Recently, the measures taken to overcome the crisis in Euro Area, which is cited as the main threat to  global economic outlook, and the major central banks’ leaning towards monetary easing to support growth stimulated the capital inflows to emerging market economies. Central Bank of Turkey narrowed the interest rate corridor by decreasing the O/N lending rate. CBRT cited the Fed’s, ECB’s and some ...

Representatives of Greek agencies seeking to begin repairing the Greek economy through privatization and foreign investment, with some of Greece's leading businessmen, visited their Turkish counterparts in Istanbul on Tuesday, seeking to entice entrepreneurs from their eastern neighbour to invest in the debt-stricken country's mammoth 50-billion-euro privatization program. Under the strain of a heavy sovere ...

A GENERAL LOOK : Despite the continued downward risks to world economy, global markets started the new year with a positive sentiment. The impacts of the favorable developments in global financial markets were also effective  on the domestic markets. ISE-100 index increased  around 15% from its lowest level in January when the index declined below 50.000 threshold. During this period, TL appreciated against ...

Demand for villas by the Bosphorus in Istanbul skyrockets. Interest from foreigners in real estate sector in Turkey has substantially increased in the recent years. Strategic location, cultural wealth and similar characteristics of Turkey have truly contributed to this situation. How does the situation for Turkey look like in 2012? It seems that 2012 is going to be a difficult year for the real estate secto ...

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 ...

The Greek Business Federation will be organizing a trip to Greece for almost 200 Turkish businessmen to participate in 50 billion euros worth of privatizations. In order to overcome the economic crisis, Greece has decided to privatize public assets and will be hosting Turkish businessmen in September for an anticipated 50 billion dollars worth of privatizations. According to Burcu Akdarı, Chairman of the Yo ...

In spite of accusations of “betrayal” by ultra-nationalist Greeks, rapprochement between Turkey and Greece is resulting in increased political, economic and social benefits for both sides, Assistant Professor Dimitris Triantaphyllou, Director of the Center for International and European Studies (CIES) at Kadir Has University, told the Daily News. The peaceful atmosphere between these two countries is a majo ...

2012 promises tough times, President Gül says as Turkey struggles to write a new charter amid strained EU relations and turmoil among its neighbors. Iranian- West tensions look set to continue, while the EU’s economic prognosis is grim Turkey has left a difficult 2011 behind but 2012 is already promising plenty of challenges as the country attempts to draft a new charter amid a number of disagreements among ...