The 2010 FIBA World Championship Starts
28 August in Turkey

Turkey is ready to host the 2010 FIBA World Championship which will take place in the cities of Ankara, Kayseri, Istanbul and Izmir between August 28th and September 12th next year.

100 days before the start of the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey, the organisers say all tickets that were available on public sale for the event have already sold out.

Only a small contingent will be made available shortly before the event begins on 28th August.

Around 350,000 people are expected to attend the Championship, which culminates in the final on 12th September.

The event will be played in four cities - Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Kayseri - and feature 24 teams, with 288 players playing 80 games. Two new venues have been built especially for the Championship.

Patrick Baumann, the Secretary-General of basketball's governing body FIBA and a member of the International Olympic Committee, said: "The 2010 World Championship will be the world's biggest ever basketball competition, and the biggest event ever to be held in Turkey. We are delighted that all available tickets have already sold out, a sign that the world's second biggest sport is as popular as ever.

"Basketball has a clean, positive and exciting image and is followed by over 450million people around the world. Its future is as bright as ever and the World Championship will be a clear symbol of the sport's growing success."

The first round of the Championship, which returns to Europe for the first time in 12 years, will be played from 28th August to 12th September and feature superstars including Kobe Bryant.

The team winning the FIBA World Championship 2010 will qualify automatically for the London 2012 Olympics.

The following teams have qualified for Turkey:

Group A (Kayseri): Angola, Argentina, Australia, Germany, Jordan, Serbia

Group B (Istanbul): Brazil, Croatia, Iran, Slovenia, Tunisia, USA

Group C (Ankara): China, Greece, Ivory Coast, Puerto Rico, Russia, Turkey

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Istanbul Fashion Week to welcome famous designers

Turkey marks its place on the world’s fashion calendar with the commencement of Istanbul Fashion Week (IFD), which unites the major fashion designers and ready to wear brands of our country.

Targeted for taking place in the world’s fashion calendar the “Istanbul Fashion Week” is getting started within the scope of Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture for gathering Turkish designers and brands under one and an organized roof in order to provide information flow from the Turkish fashion industry to the world. Istanbul Fashion Week (IFD) will be held from August 25-28 at the Taskısla Campus of Istanbul Technical University.

An introductory press meeting was held on July 7 in which İTKİB Chairman Hikmet Tanrıverdi said “We aim to transform Istanbul into one of the most inspiring fashion capitals in the world along with New York, London and Milan”.

He added that the goal of IFW was to increase the visibility of Turkish fashion designers in the region and in the local market and to contribute to the national image, creating new potential for textile exports. “Istanbul is one of the fastest growing ready-wear manufacture and design centres of fashion in the world,” said Şekib Avdagiç, chairman of Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture agency. “I believe Istanbul Fashion Week will act as a fashion bridge between Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.”

Twenty-four fashion shows will be held in four days during Fashion Week with the participation of 20 designers and brands.

World famous successful Turkish fashion designers will present during Istanbul Fashion Week, including Dice Kayek, Atıl Kutoğlu and Bora Aksu, said Süleyman Orakçıoğlu, the chairman of the IFW Advisory Board. “IFW will strengthen our country’s fashion, design and textile sectors in a melting pot.”

“Jazz in Ramadan” in Istanbul

Istanbul, 2010 European Culture of Capital, will host world famous Muslim Jazz musicians during Ramadan with a festival titled "Jazz in Ramadan".

The festival will be a first for Turkey that will bring jazz music and Muslim musicians together at the holy month of Ramadan.

"Jazz in Ramadan" will take place in Istanbul between 14-31 August in two beautiful historic Sultanahmet venues. The venues; the courtyard of the Archeological Museum and the glamorous gardens of Topkapi Palace will host eight concerts.

The festival, organized by Hakan Erdogan Production, aims to propose the idea that social peace comes first and foremost from the sharing artistic inspiration. The festival includes jazz musicians such as Ahmad Jamal, Anouar Brahem, Abdullah Ibrahim and Dhafer Youssef.

On the other hand, the popular jazz musicians from Turkey such as Ilhan Ersahin and Aydin Esen will also participate in the event.

Aydin Esen will perform his special program on Ramadan, named as "Aydin Esen Plays for Ramadan".

Besides jazz singers, the classical Turkish music group that is name after one of the biggest musician of Otoman-era, Dede Efendi, will also participate the "Jazz in Ramadan".

The catering will be available in Iftar times in the concerts. Festival program:

14 August: Anouar Brahem Quartet / Archaeological Museum
17 August: Ahmad Jamal Quartet / Topkapi Palace
18 August: Dhafer Youssef Quartet / Archaelogical Museum
20 August: Dede Efendi Ensemble--Munip Utandi / Archaeological Museum
21 August: Ilhan Ersahin & Istanbul Sessions / Archaeological Museum
24 August: Abdullah Ibrahim Trio / Topkapi Palace
26 August: Aydin Esen Group / Archaeological Museum (Aydin Esen Plays For Ramadan)
31 August: Kudsi Erguner Ensemble--Islam Blues / Topkapi Palace

U2 to Perform in Istanbul, First Performance Ever in Turkey

The legendary rock group U2 will be performing in Turkey for the first time with 360º Tour! Live Nation in collaboration with Pozitif and Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts presents the biggest event of 2010, with the support of Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency.

U2 will perform in Turkey for the very first time, on 6th of September 2010, as part of its 360º Tour at the Istanbul Atatürk Stadium. This concert will be the biggest stadium concert to be held in Turkey.

Long-time U2 Show Director Willie Williams has worked again with architect Mark Fisher (ZooTV, PopMart, Elevation and Vertigo), to create an innovative 360º design which affords an unobstructed view for the audience. U2 360º also marks the first time a band has toured in stadiums with such a unique and original structure (which can be viewed at U2.com). With a cylindrical video system of interlocking LED panels, and a steel structure rising 150 feet from the floor over a massive stage with rotating bridges, the band has truly created an intimate 360º experience for concert goers.

The U2 360º Tour is produced by Live Nation Global Touring and sponsored by BlackBerry. For complete U2 360º Tour and ticketing information visit: www.U2.com

The 25th European People Management Conference
to be held in Istanbul

The European Association for People Management (EAPM) which was founded by the national associations and professional institutions of personnel management in France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, will celebrate its 40 years of People Management leadership in Turkey, at the 25th European conference that will take place in Istanbul on September 28-30, 2011, organized by VIP Tourism.

The world has become far more unstable and competitive than ever before. We continuously need to find ways to gain competitive advantage whenever and wherever possible.  One of these is clearly the management of human resources, which traditionally regarded as a department function, is now being widely shared among all business managers. We need to take HR to the next level, bringing people and performance together.

Convergence is the act of moving toward union or uniformity. It is also a meeting place, where distinct technologies, industries, or devices into a unified whole. It is the approach toward a definite value, a definite point, a common view or opinion, or a state.

“People” and “performance” strategies, targets and practices have been converging. People Management is emerging to uniquely combine activities and processes of human resource management, organizational development, brand management, communication studies, psychology, sociology, and some other areas — the fields that “grew up” distinct from each other. In pursuing this convergence there are some clear divergences, nuances and specific themes.

Gain new perspective and greater understanding of the differences and similarities in various countries, cultures, corporations, functions, policies and practices. 

At the 25th European conference in Istanbul, participants will discover contemporary best practices and get insights on how to use the convergences as opportunities and how to realign their strategy to maximize performance and profits. The topics will be widely discussed by business and people management leaders, in the light of relevant literature.

Istanbul Hosted Bosphorus cross-continental swimming race

The 22nd Bosphorus cross-continental swimming, rowing and canoeing race took place in Istanbul on Sunday 18 July 2010.

750 men and women swimmers, 250 rowers and canoeists from more than 40 countries, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Turkey and the United States took part in the 6.5km race in the Bosphorus strait.

Crossing from Asia to Europe, between two continents collectively offers participants particular pleasure and excitement and each year hundreds of amateur swimmers of every age, from every corner of the world, eagerly await the day of the contest and contestants who successfully complete the first and only intercontinental swimming competition in the world, already start to experience the excitement of next year's expectations.

First winner in 2010 race in swimming category is Turkish athlete Hasan Musluoglu with a time of 41 minutes 20 seconds followed by another Turkish Deniz Turan in 43:46. Gabriel Moldoveanu from Romania finished third in 44:46.

Şişecam Çayırova Team came first in rowing both in Men 4x and Women 2x categories, Fenerbahçe Team came first in Men 2x, Gebze High Tech. Institute came first in Women 1x, and Beykoz Municipality came first in Men 1x category.

Şişecam Çayırova Team also came first in canoeing in K1 Men and K1 Women category, whereas Marmara University in K2 Men and Ferdi Team in K2 Mix category won the races.

Being held for the 22nd time this year, the 2010 Bosphorus cross-continental swim was held in seven categories with support from Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency.

The race was organized by the Turkish national Olympic Committee at the Bosphorus strait from Asian side to European side, covering 6.5km and supposed to be completed within 2 hours at most.

One more tourism information office opened up!

Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency maintains the renovation project for the Tourism Information Offices’ as an endeavor to serve better the foreign and domestic tourists.

After the offices in Atatürk Airport, Karaköy, Sirkeci and Sultanahmet of which the renovations were completed by early 2010, now newly established offices in Sabiha Gökçen Airport and Taksim offices are renovated.

Renovated offices were introduced to the general public in a press conference on Monday, August 9 at the newly establish Taksim Tourism Information Office with the participation of Misbah Demircan the Mayor of Beyoğlu.

Istanbul Cup 2010 held at ENKA Arena

The Istanbul Cup is one of the 53 WTA Tournaments and has been on the tour since 2005. The exhibition bouts alongside the tournament matches have attracted the attention of all world tennis fans to Istanbul.

Istanbul Cup 2010 took place at ENKA Arena in Istanbul between 26 July and 1 August 2010.

The official opening ceremony of the event took place in Topkapi Palace with the participation of Sony Ericsson WTA Tour President Stacey Allaster and Turkey Tennis Federation President Ayda Uluç.

WTA President Stacey Allaster said, “I heard many things about Istanbul. I am very happy to be here. As you may know, best tennis players of the world will be here in Istanbul next year for the WTA Championship. WTA will continue to be in Istanbul. I would like to thank to Turkish government and Turkish Tennis Federation for their support and contribution”.

After one week long matches, Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won Istanbul Cup singles title after a longest match she ever played. 19 year-old Russian beat countrywomen Elena Vesnina 5-7, 7-5 and 6-4 in three hours and ten minutes final match. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova clinched her second WTA singles title, while Vesnina lost her third WTA final.

Eleni Daniilidou-Jasmin Wöhr has won the title in doubles at the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour İstanbul Cup. They did so beating the number one seeded couple Kondratieva-Uhlirova in the final.

Closing Ceremony in Istanbul Marks End of
40th Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship

The 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship officially came to an end with the Closing Ceremony held at the poolside of the Sheraton Hotel in Istanbul.

Over one week close to 350 sailors representing 59 nations have battled for the eight Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship titles at the 40th edition of the Youth Worlds. The Closing Ceremony was the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the medal winners and for everyone involved to give their thanks to the city of Istanbul, the host nation Turkey, the Turkish Yachting Federation and the suppliers and sponsors of the event for putting on such a marvellous championship.
Nazli Imre, Vice-President of ISAF and President of the Turkish Yachting Federation, paid tribute to everyone who's been involved in making the championship a success. Nazli opened by stating, "Please do not forget that participation is as honourable as winning a medal."

Nazli thanked the title sponsor Volvo Ocean Race, ISAF and its officers, all the equipment suppliers, and also the people and establishments who had played their part in realising the event. She thanked all the event sponsors, local organisers, race committee, jury and volunteers. She finished by saying, "Dear sailing family, I look forward to seeing you again in the future in Turkey and wish you all a safe journey home."

Fiona Kidd, the Chairman of the ISAF Youth World Championship Sub-committee, also paid tribute to the partners who had contributed to the 40th anniversary of the event. She stated, "It has been an extremely challenging week of sailing due to the unusually light and shifty wind conditions"

Fiona re-iterated the support provided by all the event equipment suppliers including Nautivela, Laser Performance, Neil Pryde and Sirena Voile. She thanked the Turkish Yachting Federation, all the organising committees, the volunteers and staff.

She closed by stating, "Our Turkish hosts have been friendly, gracious, warm and generous hosts to all of us here."

Turkish Yachting Federation President, Nazli Imre and representatives of the organising committee were all presented with ISAF awards to thank them for their contribution to the event. The team of ISAF Race Officials who have ensured fair play at the championship were also recognized, as was ISAF World Youth Sailing Trust coach Kristine Roug (DEN).

Following the speeches the medal ceremonies began with ISAF medals in gold, silver and bronze were awarded to first, second and third overall finishers in each event. The Volvo Trophy was presented to France, the top-performing nation at the championship.

Fiona Kidd marked the end of the ceremony by declaring the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship closed with the ISAF Flag lowered and then presented to the hosts the next year's championship, Zadar, Croatia.

First City Museum of Istanbul Opened

Adalar Muzesi (Museum of Princes' Islands); the first contemporary city museum of Istanbul was inaugurated with several exhibitions on July 31.

The museum exhibits the social history, today, and future of the Princes' Islands, situated on the Sea of Marmara.

The Municipality of the Princes' Islands and the Foundation of the Princes' Islands are cooperated in inauguration of the museum with the financial support of the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency.

Residents of the islands and more than 50 experts worked in establishment of the museum. More than 20,000 archives, including photographs and memoirs of the residents and 8mm films, are on display in the museum.

AnadoluJet is now rising from Sabiha Gokcen Airport

AnadoluJet, as a trade mark of Turkish Airlines, has went into operation in 2008 starting with 20 flight points and 5 aircraft, in order to provide fast and economic transportation for Anatolian people.

AnadoluJet offers more new flight opportunities to its passengers with a fleet of 22 aircraft which is aimed to be possessed during August as a part of 2010 summer schedule..

Effective by August 2nd, 2010, all the domestic and international round-trip flights carried out by Turkish Airlines from Sabiha Gokcen Airport will be operated by AnadoluJet. Due to being Sabiha Gokcen Airport the second hub after Esenboga Airport for AnadoluJet, passengers would have the chance of flying with much more economic prices. Sabiha Gokcen Airport, as a second hub, will contribute to the need of fast and more economic transportation of Istanbul.

The international round-trip flights from Sabiha Gokcen which will be carried out by AnadoluJet by August 2nd, 2010, will be Nicosia-Cyprus, Amsterdam, London-Stansted, Moscow-Sheremetyevo besides the current flights of Stockholm-Arlanda, Copenhagen, Nahcivan and the domestic round-trip flights will be İzmir-Adnan Menderes, Antalya, Adana plus to the current domestic flights of Ankara-Esenboga, Trabzon, Erzurum, Dalaman, Konya and Bodrum-Milas.

Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport Breaks Passenger Record

The number of passengers flying via Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SGIA) increased 95% in the first half of 2010 compare to same period last year.

According to the announcement from the SGIA, in the first half of 2009, 1,799,300 domestic passengers use the airport, whereas in 2010 this number increased to 3,465,570.

Number of international passengers between January and June period counted 771,340 in 2009 and 771,340 in 2010. Totally, number of passengers using airport is increased from 2,570,640 (2009) to 5,007,000 in 2010. The increase from last year is a record of 95%.

Pegasus Airlines adds extra summer flights between London, Istanbul and Northern Cyprus

Responding to recent unprecedented demand for flights between London and Turkey and Northern Cyprus following the suspension of Cyprus Turkish Airlines (CTA) flights; Pegasus, Turkey's best value and most dynamic airline, has added new flights to their 2010 summer schedule from Monday 19 July 2010.

These twice weekly services are additional to the current daily flights departing London Stansted: Flying weekly on Mondays and Saturdays the extra flights will run between London Stansted to Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen and onto Ercan in Northern Cyprus, giving Pegasus a total of 9 weekly services to and from London Stansted. This means that travellers going to and from Istanbul, Northern Cyprus and whole array of other destinations in Turkey now have even more flights to choose from.