On Dec. 15, 2011, a most anticipated law was enacted. Parliament approved a new bill regarding exemption from military service in lieu of payment, which enables men who are 30 years old and older to skip military service in exchange for TL 30,000. According to “The Bill Amending the Law on Military Service,” men who [...]
Why would someone beat someone else? What a nasty topic to write about. I selected this heading greatly disturbed in my mind and heart. My first choice for the heading was “woman killers,” but then I felt that would be too strong. It is even difficult to write about this, but the extent of violence [...]
Turkey’s tourism sector has exhibited a remarkable performance this year with an 11% increase in the number of tourists visiting the Eurasian nation in the first seven months of 2011 with 17,624,969 tourists visiting between January and July this year according to data from the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry and up to 30 million [...]
Turkey will not recognize Cyprus’ presidency of the European Union in mid-2012 unless a deal reunifying the divided island is reached by then, Turkey’s foreign minister warned Wednesday. Ahmet Davutoglu also said Turkey-EU ties would reach a “freezing point” if Cyprus assumes the presidency before any settlement that would allow the Turkish community to be [...]
Undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest cities, Istanbul has seen a 30.1% increase in tourist revenue, generating an estimated $10.2 billion in 2011, surpassing New York and Amsterdam in terms of the number of visitors according to a city index developed by MasterCard Worldwide. Estimates from the city index suggest that Istanbul will receive a [...]
Who shot Ibrahim Tatlises and why? Many questions will be raised. Famous Turkish singer Ibrahim Tatlises has been shot in the head in an armed attack in Maslak Istanbul. Unidentified gunmen opened fire on the singer as he was leaving the private BeyazTV channel’s building which all been moitored by CCTV. Tatlises, who was seriously [...]
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has urged the European Union to begin visa liberalization talks with candidate Turkey after Ankara and Brussels finally ended talks on a deal on the readmission of illegal immigrants entering EU countries via Turkey. “We expect the EU to make the necessary decisions and take the necessary steps so that talks [...]
Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday that Turkey supports Tunisian people’s demand for a more democratic society. Turkey has been monitoring developments in Tunisia and hopes the transition period in the country would end by democratic and pluralist means respecting human rights, the ministry said in a statement. Turkey feels deep sorrow over incidents that took [...]
Free zones under Turkish law. Free zones are special sites considered outside the customs area, although they are within the political and administrative borders of a country. These zones are designed to increase the number of export-focused investments. Legal and administrative regulations in the commercial, financial and economic fields applicable within the customs area are either [...]
Turkey was shaken by the news of another terrorist attack on Tuesday, with the deaths of five people as it dealt with the shock of the killing of more than a dozen soldiers in clashes with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) over the weekend. The rapid escalation of violence in the country has drawn [...]
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday he has recalled Turkey’s ambassador to Stockholm over a Swedish parliament vote branding the World War One killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide. “We strongly condemn this resolution, which is made for political calculations. It does not correspond to the close friendship of our two nations. [...]
The Turkish foreign minister said on Saturday that nobody could put pressure on Turkey. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that if the aim of the decision of the Swedish parliament was to put pressure on Turkey, nobody could put pressure on Turkey. Davutoglu’s remarks came after the Swedish parliament adopted a resolution on the [...]
Every year, many tourists decide to explore the cultural delights of Turkey. Walks are a fantastic way to see all that the country has to offer, taking you through ancient ruins and bustling towns and along spectacular coastlines. Wherever your walk takes you, there are a few cultural experiences that you simply cannot help but [...]
Iran and Turkey signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish joint industrial estate on the border of the two countries, the state IRIB TV reported on Tuesday. The MOU was signed by Iran’s Small-Scale Industries and Industrial Estates Organization Director Khodamorad Ahmadi and Turkey’s Artisanship and Small Industrial Sites General Director Ramazan Yildirim in [...]
Tarkan Tevetoglu was released from detention yesterday after being arrested on 26 February and charged with using illicit drugs. Tarkan was released along with two other individuals. Tarkan Tevetoglu was born on 17 October 1972 in Alzey, Germany and raised in Turkey. Popularly known as Tarkan, he is a World Music award winning singer. Known [...]
The killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in January in his hotel room in Dubai by a professional hit squad has provided us with several clues about the shape of things to come in the Middle East. Al-Mabhouh was one of the founders of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing. There is no doubt that his [...]
