AllAboutTurkey - News from 2006

The St.-Tropez of Turkey by New York Times

buraksan@superonline.com — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 15:41:44 +0300

Turkbuku town of Bodrum was named as the "St.-Tropez of Turkey" by New York Times for its jet-set, high class clubs and restaurants, beach clubs and night life. Bodrum is a very popular summer resort amongst Turkish people.

Istanbul in Newsweek review

buraksan@superonline.com — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 15:38:17 +0300

Istanbul was named at the Good Life section of Newsweek review. Amber Haq mentiones four must-do's in this great city: to Eat Turkish mezes, to Visit the Blue Mosque, to Haggle in the Grand Bazaar, and to Take a traditional Turkish Bath.

Sedir Island Beach in Turkey is Breathtaking

buraksan@superonline.com — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 15:36:35 +0300

Forbes magazine announced Breathtaking Beaches around the world, one of them being Cleopatra's Beach on the Sedir Island near Marmaris, Mugla, Turkey. The island is an ancient Roman site as well. The sand is so fine that it doesn't exists anywhere else in Turkey, it's said that this incredible sand was brought by Mark Antony from Egypt for his lover Cleopatra.

Rodin in Istanbul until September 3rd

buraksan@superonline.com — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 15:33:52 +0300

Master sculptor Rodin's exhibition will be open at Sabanci Museum along the Bosphorus until September 3rd. His master works such as The Thinker, The Kiss, The Gates of Hell and Balzac can be seen at this fantastic museum in Istanbul. The exhibition is open since June 13th and has attracted thousands of art lovers in Istanbul.

Admission charge is 10 YTL for adults, including Audio Guide service. Students, teachers, and seniors over-60 pay 3 YTL.

Catalhoyuk - From Earth to Eternity display in Istanbul, until August 20th

buraksan@superonline.com — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 15:22:52 +0300

The exhibition of Catalhoyuk artifacts at Vedat Nedim Tor museum in Beyoglu will be open to public between May 26th - August 20th, 2006, everyday between 10:00-18:00 (Sundays between 13:00-18:00). Organization is sponsored by Koc Bank as one of the main sponsors of the excavations since 10 years and Yapi Kredi Bank this year.

The display was prepared after a long and detailed work of a team under the scientific control of English Archaeologist Prof. Ian Hodder, head of the excavations in Catalhoyuk. This would be the first very expanded exhibition of Catalhoyuk since it was unearthed, there are 288 artifacts on display explaining daily social and religious life of Neolitic people lived 9000 years before our time.

Zeugma mosaics on display on Internet

buraksan@superonline.com — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 15:20:43 +0300

Mosaics of the ancient city of Zeugma will be on exhibit on the internet and reach billions of people around the world. The Website is written both in English and Turkish, explaining the mosaics in details and also other historical and cultural artifacts of Gaziantep. The mosaics were put in Gaziantep Archaeology Museum last year and attracted many visitors.

Pictures of the Zeugma mosaics can be found on the English version of the Web page under Museums, Archeology Museum, and Zeugma Eserleri.

Summer concerts on the Bosphorus

buraksan@superonline.com — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 15:17:51 +0300

Famous singer and groups are coming to Istanbul to perform great concerts along the Bosphorus, some of the names are Sting, Guns n Roses, James Brown, Cuban Brothers, Depeche Mode etc. Most of these concerts are being held at Kurucesme Arena stage or at Parkorman stage.

Don't miss these events and join the local people during these hot summer days on a cool place.

Air Race World Series in Istanbul - July 29th

buraksan@superonline.com — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 17:19:31 +0200

Istanbul was the stage for the spectacular "Formula 1 of the air" race on 29th of July for the first time. Red Bull Air Race was the fourth race in the Red Bull Air Race World Series 2006, a race of speed but also precision and skill.

The race was held at the Golden Horn.

The Red Bull Air Race World Series 2006 travels to five continents, with nine races. The first race was on 17 March at Abu Dhabi, in the Arab Emirates, then in Barcelona, and after that travels to Berlin, Istanbul, Budapest, then to as yet undecided cities in the UK, the USA and then Perth, before ending in the USA on 19 November. 11 pilots will take part in the 2006 Red Bull Air Race World Series.

Shop & Miles Bosphorus Cup, May 27-28th

buraksan@superonline.com — Tue, 23 May 2006 22:22:17 +0300

Bosphorus Cup 2006 was held for the 5th time this year between May 27th-28th in Istanbul. The Saturdays' start was given at 10:30am from Caddebostan beach and the Sundays' start at 12:00 noon at Asiyan along the Bosphorus.

This important sailing race was sponsored by Shop & Miles credit card from Garanti Bank.

Gallipoli guide book

buraksan@superonline.com — Tue, 23 May 2006 22:19:56 +0300

A new guide book about Gallipoli is published by two historians (Gursel Goncu and Sahin Aldogan) of the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915 in both Turkish and English. This bilingual guidebook to the battlefields will be the first of its kind on the market today.

Gallipoli Battlefield Guide gives a detailed information on the major sites of interest in the campaign.

Unemployment rate at its highest

buraksan@superonline.com — Tue, 23 May 2006 22:17:20 +0300

According to Turkstat (Turkish Statistical Institute), 11.9 percent of the Turkish workforce is unemployed, meaning about 2,8million people without a job.

Turkstat's survey showed that of those in employment, 25.1 percent was employed in agriculture, 20.4 percent in industry, 4.7 percent in the construction sector and 49.8 percent in service industries.

Of those unemployed, 75.5 percent were men, 61.3 percent had not completed high school, and 34.7 percent had been without a job for more than one year.

You can find many other interesting numbers on Turkey at this link.

Shark tourism in Turkey

buraksan@superonline.com — Tue, 23 May 2006 22:14:32 +0300

Boncuk Bay in Gokova Gulf, near Marmaris, is famous for its Sandbar sharks and is the second largest breeding zone of them after the southern coasts of North America. The bay has been declared a Protected Nature Reserve and is now closed to sea traffic.

According to a new project, tourists will be able to observe the sharks with more ease starting in June this year.

European Champion wrestler

buraksan@superonline.com — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 01:48:23 +0300

Wrestler Hamza Yerlikaya of Turkey won gold medal in European Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship held in Moscow, Russia. He became the European champion for the 8th time. He has titles of European, World, and Olimpics Champion in 96 kilograms.

Wrestling is one of the most popular sports in Turkey.

Largest Turkish Flag in the Guinness Book

buraksan@superonline.com — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 01:42:10 +0300

The largest flag opened in midair by a Lieutenant from the 1st Commando Brigade of Turkish Army in Kayseri has been registered with the Guinness Book of Records. The flag measures 18.6 meters by 28.56 meters and weighs 25 kilograms. This flag record is Turkey's 21st record in the Guinness Book of Records.

Turkey aims for 30million tourists in 2010

buraksan@superonline.com — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 01:38:20 +0300

Turkish Minister of Culture & Tourism Atilla Koc stated that Turkey aims to host 30 million tourists in 2010 and earn 30 billion USD from this industry, even though there was a drop in the first three months of 2006.

The tourism is one of the fastest groving sectors of Turkey and millions of families depend on it, it's the second biggest industry of the country.

Dawn Ceremony at Gallipoli battlefields

buraksan@superonline.com — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 23:28:10 +0300

Dawn ceremony took place in Anzac Bay in Gallipoli on April 25th to mark the 91st anniversary of the Canakkale battles. Around 10,000 people, a third of them Turkish, participated this years ceremony, a little less than previous years.

New Zealand's House of Representatives Speaker Margaret Wilson and Australian Governor General Michael Jeffery made a speech during the ceremony praising the war skills of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

The dawn ceremony ended with a two minute silence and prayers for all those that died in Canakkale battles.

31 Turkish hotels in Top 99 list

buraksan@superonline.com — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 23:22:13 +0300

According to a poll made by the German Internet portal Holiday Check, 31 Turkish hotels have been selected as Top 99 hotels of 2005. About 250 thousand voters who went abroad for their holiday participated to the poll.

Dr. Axel Jockwer, one of the owners of the website, pointed out that in 2005 most of the Germans went to 15 different countries for their holidays and amongst them Spain, Turkey, Greece and Egypt took the first places. Dr. Jockwer stated that hotels were examined by different criterias such as its location, services, food and room amenities and that Spain came after Turkey with its 24 hotels in the list.

It's estimated that in Germany, which has a population of 82million, each year 62million people go on vacation and out of which 23million of them fly abroad. 9million Germans go to Spain each year, than 4,2million to Turkey, and 2,5million to Greece.

Here are the Turkish hotels of the list, all of them are in Antalya area except one:

1-Alaiye Hotel (Alanya)
2-Hotel Alara Park (Colakli)
3-Barbaross Pasha's Beach Club (Manavgat)
4-Blue Waters Resort (Side-Sorgun)
5-Club Asteria (Belek)
6-Club Grand Aqua (Colakli)
7-Club Gypsophila (Izmir-Karaburun)
8-Club Hotel Titan Garden (Konakli)
9-Club Voyage Sorgun Select (Side)
10-Cornelia Delux Resort (Belek)
11-Delphine Delux Resort (Karaburun)
12-Gardenia Beach (Karaburun)
13-Hotel Hane (Side)
14-Iberostar Club Alantur (Alanya)
15-Iberotel Sarigerme Park (Karaburun)
16-Justiniano Beach (Incekum)
17-Kaya Belek (Belek)
18-Kemer Resort (Kemer)
19-Mega Saray (Belek)
20-Hotel Monachus (Colakli)
21-Novum Garden Side (Colakli)
22-Hotel Saloma Side Beach (Side)
23-Hotel Papillon Muna (Side)
24-Hotel Paradise Side Beach (Side)
25-Hotel Pasha's Princess (Kemer)
26-Hotel Royal Atlantis (Side)
27-Hotel Royal Wings (Lara)
28-Hotel Saray Regency (Side)
29-Hotel Side Beach (Side)
30-Hotel Venüs (Side)
31-Amara Beach Resort (Colakli)

Fire of Anatolia dance group will perform in Antalya this summer

buraksan@superonline.com — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:39:08 +0300

After performing over 900 times from their first show in May 2001 until today, the Fire of Anatolia dance group continues to hit the stage. The group will perform in Side roman theater between June 1st and July 18th, and in Aspendos roman theater between July 22nd and October 31st.

This would be a lifetime experience to see the folk and modern dances of Anatolia in an ancient theater. Don't miss this show.

Istanbul promotion in Germany

buraksan@superonline.com — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:36:16 +0300

One of Germany's leading newspapers, Bild am Sonntag, promotes Istanbul with an article titled Istanbul from the Eye of a Knowing Person. The article mentions Istanbul's best cultural places, as well as daily and night life.

Germany currently is number one amongst countries sending tourist to Turkey.

Tourism revenue target of US$ 21 billion for 2006

buraksan@superonline.com — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:35:56 +0300

Turkey's Tourism Minister Mr. Atilla Koc said the country hoped to generate earnings of US$ 21 billion through tourism in 2006, with projected overseas arrivals tipped to reach 21 million tourists. While arrivals had been somewhat down for the first three months of the year, it's hoped to bounce back for the rest of the year unless there are no unexpected events.

2010 Cultural Capital of Europe - Istanbul

buraksan@superonline.com — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 01:29:22 +0300

The European Union Jury has nominated Istanbul as the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2010, which was competing in the category of "cities outside the EU" against Ukranian capital Kiev. The verdict will be approved in November 2006 in Finland. Istanbul was trying hard to win this prestigious title since 2000. It has been calculated that millions of euros in support will help refurbish local infrastructure, restore museums, create cultural programming, and launch advertising campaigns. The slogan of the city for this event will be "Istanbul, city of four elements".

Introduced by Greek Cultural Minister Melina Mercouri in 1985, the cultural capital program was conceived as a way to bring Europe's people together and is coordinated by the European Ministry for Culture. Apart from the stature afforded by the honor, the title European cultural capital brings badly needed tourist dollars to cash-strapped cities. People around Europe were shocked to discover recently what being European cultural capital meant for the modest Austrian city of Graz, which recorded a 35% growth in tourism when it held the title in 2003. In essence, being cultural capital is an invitation to visitors who might otherwise have stayed away. Some of the important European cities which won this title in the past are: Athens, Florence, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Lizbon, Thessaloniki, Brussels, and so on.

Do you have electronic pass for crossing Bosphorus Bridge?

buraksan@superonline.com — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 01:27:07 +0300

As of April 3rd Monday, the Istanbul Bosphorus Bridge (known as the First Bridge) does no longer offer the option of paying the toll in cash (3 YTL), with the fine for those without automatic payment cards or equipment being ten times the normal toll (33 YTL).

On the other hand, there will be only 4 lines left for cash payment at the second bridge (Fatih Sultan Mehmed Bridge) from now on. Therefore if you're driving in Istanbul you're strongly adviced to obtain an electronic pass (OGS) or a smart card (KGS).

Istanbul is on first page on The Times

buraksan@superonline.com — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 01:24:38 +0300

English newspaper The Times has taken Istanbul on the first page of their travel section showing one of the geratest photos of the city.

Journalist Jill Hartley is calling everyone, including Prime minister Tony Blair, to visit this amazing city and stating "You'll be pampered so much that you'll feel yourself like David Beckham". The journalist also mentiones that Turkish people is very warm and hospitable, and attractions such as Istiklal street, Spice Market, Grand Bazaar, Nisantasi district and the French Quartier are within places tha should be visited. In the same article city's most popular restaurants, hotels, and sightseeing places are detailed.

UN OCHA Meeting & World Businesswomen's Summit in Istanbul

buraksan@superonline.com — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 23:31:02 +0300

The second meeting of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was held on April 27th in Istanbul. Delegates from 11 countries, including Turkey, participated in the meeting organized by the Turkish Crisis Management DG and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Meanwhile, The World Businesswomen's Summit was also held in Istanbul on April 27th, in association with the Women In Business International and the Turkish Businesswomen's Association (TIKAD).

Change of Service - New RSS feed

buraksan@superonline.com — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 03:14:59 +0200

Please point your RSS reader to http://www.allaboutturkey.com/news/news.rss

Worlds smallest Koran is at Sabanci Museum

buraksan@superonline.com — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 01:43:36 +0200

The worlds smallest Koran, written by Kerim Bin Ibrahim Shirasi, is bought by Sakip Sabanci Museum (SSM) in Istanbul from an auction and will be displayed shortly in the museum, said Mrs. Nazan Olcer, Director of the museum.

The museum has an important collection which offers a comprehensive overview of five hundred years of calligraphic art and consists of more than four hundred religious works such as Korans and prayer manuals, as well as secular ones such as imperial plates, decrees, warrants, patents bearing the Sultan's seals, administrative documents, and ceremonial inscriptions, the more informal works of poetry or exercise book, and miscellaneous genres ranging from tongue twisters to descriptive writing.

21 Turkish Billionaires in the Forbes List

buraksan@superonline.com — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 17:23:38 +0200

According to Forbes magazine, in 2006 there are 21 Turkish names in the worlds richest people list. 20 years ago, the magazine uncovered some 140 billionaires, and 3 years ago they found 476, but this year the list is a record 793 billionaires being the number one Bill Gates as usual, having about US$ 50 billion. Out of 793 richest people of the world, 371 are North American, 55 German, 33 Russian, 27 Japanese, 23 Indian, 21 Turkish, 16 Brazilian, 14 French, 10 Mexican, and 8 Chinese. Youngest billionaire is 22 years old, and oldest one is 97.

Turks who are on the Billionaires list are:
Rahmi Koc, Omer Sabanci, Sevket Sabanci rank 451 with 1.7b each
Aydin Dogan is 486 with 1.6b
Husnu Ozyegin, Turgay Ciner, Hasan Colakoglu, Ferit Sahenk are 512 with 1.5b each
Erol sabanci, Filiz Sahenk, Semahat Arsel are 606 with 1.3b each
Suna Kirac, Tuncay Ozilhan are 645 with 1.2b each
Bulent Eczacibasi, Kamil Yazici, Ahmet Zorlu are 698 with 1.1b each
Omer Dinckok, Asim Kibar, Murat Vargi, Mehmet Karamehmet, Faruk Yalcin are 746 with 1.0b each

23rd Ankara International Music Festival - April 4-29th

buraksan@superonline.com — Wed, 8 Mar 2006 15:55:03 +0200

Ankara Music Festival was celebrated for the 23rd time this year in Ankara, between 4th-29th of April, 2006, under the patronage of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Everyday there was a live performance of concerts of several local and international orchestras, ballets, music groups of folk, modern, jazz, and ethnic music. This was one of the most important music festivals in Turkey.

WTA Istanbul Tennis Cup 2006 - May 20-27th

buraksan@superonline.com — Wed, 8 Mar 2006 15:50:09 +0200

One of the worlds' biggest tennis organizations, WTA Tour, will hold one of its legs in Istanbul between May 20-27th this year. Istanbul Cup Tennis Club will provide its great facilities for the best international and local tennis players and fans. After last years' successful plays, this year it will the the second time for Istanbul to hold this big international event. It's expected that at least 4 out of the 20 best international raquettes will participate to this leg.

Last year, the tennis star Venus Williams (2005's winner) and national player Ipek Senoglu (Turkish champion) played a show set right on the Bosphorus Suspension Bridge connecting the two continents. Beside this, other shows are planned for this years' Cup as well, such as a show game on a mobile platform in the Leanders' Tower (Kizkulesi in Turkish) at the entrance of the Bosphorus Strait.

Ticket prices (in Turkish Liras):
preliminary matches: 20 YTL
1st & 2nd playoffs: 22 YTL
Quarter finals: 45 YTL
Semi finals: 70 YTL
Final: 90 YTL

13th Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival - Jun 10th - Jul 22nd

buraksan@superonline.com — Wed, 8 Mar 2006 15:40:32 +0200

This is one of the best festivals in Turkey, organized by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture between 10th of June and 22nd of July. The location of the festival, which is a 2000 year old ancient theater in Aspendos - east of Antalya, makes this festival unique. The extraordinary acoustic of the Amfiheatre makes the concerts very enjoyable. An average of 4-6000 spectators are attending at each performance in the festival, among whom 70% are foreign tourists.

Aspendos International Opera & Ballet Festival has been the most important organisation of the Directorate General of State Opera and Ballet since 1994, which gained an international recognition in 1998. In a research done by The Independent, a prestigious English newspaper, the Festival ranked 5th among 10 best opera festivals in the world. Aspendos International Opera & Ballet Festival has become the first and the only festival in the world which holds an ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management Assurance Certificate.

The program
10-Jun : AIDA
12-Jun : AIDA
17-Jun : A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
20-Jun : IL TROVATORE
24-Jun : CELLO SUITES-WINDS IN THE VOID
27-Jun : ZHIVAGO
01-Jul : THE MAGIC FLUTE
03-Jul : THE MAGIC FLUTE
08-Jul : EMRAH AND SELVIHAN
11-Jul : OTELLO
15-Jul : MANON
18-Jul : CARMEN
22-Jul : CARMINA BURANA

Depeche Mode in concert - July 30th

buraksan@superonline.com — Wed, 8 Mar 2006 15:31:01 +0200

One of the most popular music groups in the world will be live on stage in Istanbul on July 30th Sunday, 2006. This will be one of their performances during their "Touring the Angel 2005/2006 Tour". The concert will take place in Kurucesme Arena along the Bosphorus.

3rd Turkish Satellite in Space until 2008

buraksan@superonline.com — Wed, 8 Mar 2006 15:23:35 +0200

The new space satellite of Turkey, TURKSAT-3A, will be launched at the beginning of 2008. Minister of Transportation Mr. Binali Yildirim announced that they signed a contract with the French firm Alcatel for building it.

This will be the 3rd Turkish satellite in space and will be equipped with the latest data and picture quality techniques. There will be 22 Turkish engineeres assisting the construction so in the future next satellites may be built in Turkey.

TURKSAT-1A was built by another French firm Aerospatiale and launched in 1994, but was lost due to a technical failure in the rocket Ariane-4 carrying it. Than TURKSAT-1B was launched with success in the same year. TURKSAT-1C was built by the Aerospatiale for insurance clauses of the contract after loosing TURKSAT-1A and launched into space in 1996. These satellites are controlled, monitored, and manouvered by the main land station in Golbasi (near Ankara) and a secondary backup station at the ODTU University in Ankara.

International Odyssee Cannes-Istanbul Sailing Race, June-July

buraksan@superonline.com — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 16:38:07 +0200

One of the most important international sailing races, Odyssee Classe Figaro-Beneteau, will take place between June 25th - July 8th, 2006. Prestigious as Volvo Cup and Americas Cup, participating sailing boats will start from Cannes (France) and fill their sails with the winds in the crystal waters of the Mediterranean until they reach Istanbul (Turkey). The boats will cover over 1,500 nautical miles in a double crew without taking assistance from outside. These 30 boats and 60 sailors will be following the course of Ulysse like in the ancient times.

Until this great event, we'd suggest that you don't miss these International and local sailing races in Turkey as well:

April 20-23 Spring Cup, Turgutreis - Bodrum - Mugla
May 15-19 Port Gocek Regatta, Gocek - Mugla
May 16-21 OPT-LAS-RSX Federation Cup, Marti Marina - Orhaniye - Mugla
May 19-21 Aloha Turkey Cup 1st leg, Istanbul
May 24-28 420-470 Federation Cup, Istanbul
June 7-16 RSX European Championship, Izmir
June 10-11 Optimist races during Cherry Festival, Tekirdag
June 15-17 Kitesurf Turkey Championship, Istanbul
June 18-25 Kitesurf World Championship, Istanbul
June 22-25 Admiral Turgut Reis Cup, Turgutreis - Bodrum - Mugla
June 24-30 Marmaris-Rhodes International Yacht Race, Marmaris - Mugla
June 24-25 Aloha Turkey Cup 2nd leg, Cesme - Izmir

All sailing races after June 2006 in Turkey will be announced at this RSS news in the coming months.

Pope visiting Turkey in November

buraksan@superonline.com — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 12:36:14 +0200

The Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Turkey late this year, after accepting an invitation from President Ahmet Necdet Sezer formal invitation to visit the country. His official visit will take place between November 28th-30th, 2006.

Pope Benedict XVI will be the 3rd Pope visiting Turkey; Paul VI in 1967 and Jean Paul II in 1979 were the first ones who visited Istanbul, Ankara, and Ephesus.

Is it safe to travel to Turkey? What about Bird Flu?

buraksan@superonline.com — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 12:26:05 +0200

With the news of Avian Influenza which broke out in the Eastern regions of Turkey in the past months, which has claimed 4 lives, some people are asking if it's safe to go to Turkey. On January 12th, WHO (World Health Organization) stated:

"The risk of infection for travelers to Turkey is negligible provided direct contact with dead or diseased domestic and wild birds is avoided."

In order to find it out, please read the topic following the link.

Race calendar at Istanbul Park Circuit

buraksan@superonline.com — Thu, 9 Feb 2006 17:27:34 +0200

The Istanbul Park Circuit will be home to some of the major international motorsport races in 2006:

Le Mans Endurance Series on April 7-9th

Moto GP on April 28-30th

World Series by Renault on June 16-18th

Formula 1 Grandprix on August 25-27th

FIA World Touring Car Championship on September 22-24th

Don't miss these important events in Istanbul.

Theather Olympics in Istanbul, May-June

buraksan@superonline.com — Thu, 9 Feb 2006 17:19:46 +0200

In 2006, 4th International Theater Olympics was held in Istanbul on 18th of May with the partnership of the 15th Istanbul Theater Festival. The artists and audiences met at these two events together between May 18th - June 4th.

The 1st Theatre Olympics was held in Athens in 1995 under the name of "Tragedy", the 2nd Olympics was held in 1999 in Japan (Shizuoka) with "Creating Hope" theme, and the 3rd Theatre Olympics was held in 2001 in Russia (Moscow) with "Theatre for the People" theme.

The purpose of the Olympics is to unite past with future, bring different cultures together and hold discussions to emphasize the importance of arts like theater, dance, and music, and the role they played in the evolution of humanity. Moreover, Theatre Festival, just like in the previous years, will focus on Turkish productions too.

Istanbul webcams

buraksan@superonline.com — Tue, 7 Feb 2006 21:57:37 +0200

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) has launched a web-based camera system for touristy areas of this beautiful city. There are 9 different cameras to watch at, you can see them on this page. Please click on each camera as you can see it on the map.

From their website you can also see the live stream of 52 different traffic cameras of Istanbul, just clicking here and choosing your camera from the map.

Record breaking for Turkish Tourism in 2005

buraksan@superonline.com — Sun, 5 Feb 2006 12:56:43 +0200

According to the Statistical Institution (DIE) and Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2005 had been a record breaking year for Turkish Tourism, gaining a 21% growth compare to 2004 with a boosting 21,122,798 foreign visitors. In 2004 it was 17,546,466.

Turkey, a special place in the World

buraksan@superonline.com — Sun, 5 Feb 2006 12:53:56 +0200

According to the English newspaper The Observer, Turkey is one of the 15 special places to visit on Earth. Published on Sunday, The Observer asked to 15 most famous travel journalist as "Which is the most special place to visit on Earth?" . 14 journalist choose a specific area in their most prefered country, but one of them, Eric Newby, choose whole Turkey stating: "My first visit to Turkey was to Istanbul on 1956, on my way to India. At that time it was a wild and scary place. But since than it has changed a lot, now it's very romantic. I had lots of fun there, a nice country and a very nice people. Southern Turkey is a heaven for ancient site lovers. Traveling in Turkey is no more difficult than in any other place. Why did I go? Because it was there" .