Two Turkish pilots; Jason Tahincioglu and Cemil Cipa will compete at Le Mans 1000km – Istanbul.
The 2004 race broadcasted by Eurosport and as 27 TV channels around the world for more than 250 hours and watched by approximately 200 journalist and photographer.
The Opening Ceremony of the General Assembly was held at The Marmara Hotel on November 6th. Riza Epikmen, 2nd President of Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB) was attended to the Opening Ceremony and made his welcoming speech.
The Welcome Dinner was organized at The Marmara Esma Sultan located by the Bosphorus. President of TÜRSAB; Basaran Ulusoy and TÜRSAB International Relations Manager Ela Atakan attended the Welcome Dinner. During the night President of AVAVIT; Elias Rabje presented his appreciation to TÜRSAB together with a plaque.
On the last day of Venezuelan travel professionals, TÜRSAB organized a unique night at Divan Kurucesme. All delegates including their Turkish colleagues dressed in Ottoman Style. Special beverages and snacks of that period were served to all. Mr. Elias Rabje thanked to their Turkish colleagues for their great hospitality. All Venezuelan travel professionals cheered up “ Istanbul , Istanbul ” after a wonderful organization.
Association of Hungarian Travel Agencies (MUISZ) visited Istanbul between 25 and 27 October 2005 by the invitation of Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB). MUISZ delegates that came to Istanbul to make their board meeting visited several historical and cultural sites of Istanbul.
Delegates met with their Turkish colleagues at TÜRSAB Headquarters on October 26th.
President of TÜRSAB, Basaran Ulusoy stated at the opening ceremony of workshop that, “Both countries should make more positive bilateral relationship for business opportunities.”
TÜRSAB Board Member Ertugrul Karaoglu, TÜRSAB International Relations Manager Ela Atakan, TÜRSAB R&D Department Assistant Manager Sunay Ünlü Yücel were also attended the workshop.
Turkey's new low cost private airline company Pegasus started its scheduled domestic flights on November 1st.
Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim, special guests and media members were the first passengers of Pegasus's first domestic flight to southern city of Adana .
Esas Holding that was founded by Sabanci family purchased Pegasus last January. Pegasus, which has been organizing charter flights to different destinations for 15 years, will now fly to Adana , Ankara , Antalya , Trabzon and Van cities from Istanbul . Pegasus' flights will take off from Istanbul 's Sabiha Gokcen Airport and the price of the tickets will start from 55 YTL.
The Istanbul Moda Show will take place from February 16th to 18th, 2006 at the CNR exhibition center, organized by CNR and the Istanbul Textiles and Clothing Exporters' Union (ITKIB).
Fair organizers expect strong participation from European firms, having already leased booth space to companies from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Greece and Austria. They also promote the Istanbul Moda Show heavily to Mediterranean and regional textile producers such as Israel, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria and Egypt.
Orakcioglu stated: “Our sector alone accounts for 28 percent of all Turkish exports, of which 74 percent go to European Union countries; that's why we want to do this show.”
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World Trade Centers To Meet In Istanbul
The 37th General Assembly of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) will be hosted in Istanbul between October 28th and November 2nd, 2006.
Decision of 2006 destination has been taken during the 36 th General Assembly in Shanghai this year and the members unanimously decided to hold the 37th General Assembly in Istanbul.
General Assembly meetings of the WTCA bring together businessmen and commercial delegations.
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Athletes Crossed Continents
The 27th Istanbul Eurasia Marathon took place in Istanbul on Sunday, October 2nd. A total of 1828 athletes participated to the Eurasia Marathon. Athletes ran in Istanbul's both European and Asian sides with common aims of friendship and peace.
Joseph Mbithi of Kenya won the 27th Intercontinental Istanbul Eurasia Marathon in men's category and Madina Biktagirova of Russia finished the marathon first in women's category on Sunday.
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Istanbul Grateful for MICE and Congress Tourism
The number of tourists visiting Istanbul in September increased by 41 percent compared to 2004 and reached to 469,000, while the number of tourists visiting Turkey from January to August 2005 increased by 23.58 percent, rising to 14,596,000.
Turkey's southern coasts played a crucial role in increasing the number of tourists. While the intensity in coastal towns has decreased as the summer season ends, foreign tourists continue to be interested in cities such as Istanbul where cultural tourism dominates. Istanbul has over 50,000 bed-capacity for tourists and 90 percent of the city's four and five star hotels are full nowadays.
During convention and festival seasons, the occupancy rate reaches a hundred percent in Istanbul. Istanbul hotels operated at full capacity in September and October. No rooms remain empty during some periods in Istanbul with the organization of festivals and conventions.
City's existing meeting infrastructure fulfils the international requirements in terms of the quality standards with fully equipped centers and hotel meeting facilities. Total meeting capacity of the city is 180.000 people. Additional to the existing convention and exhibitions venues overall in the city, two new centers will be in the service of the industry next year with a total capacity of 10.000.
Additional to the purpose built conference venues, meeting capacity of the five star hotels only is 43.000. Eight of them have plenary rooms over 1.000 seats.
According to ICCA 2004 statistics, Istanbul is 23rd in the worldwide ranking of the congress cities as per the number of participants to the association meetings.
A total of 39,271 participants attended conventions held in Turkey in 2004, of which 31.708 were hosted in Istanbul.
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$500 million Dubai Towers To Be Built In Istanbul
Dubai International Properties, a Dubai Holding subsidiary, and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality have unveiled plans to build a multi-use tower complex in Turkey's commercial city of Istanbul.
The project, to be called Dubai Towers - Istanbul, is at a cost of $500 million, and marks the first project within the $5 billion joint investment venture announced between the two parties.
'Our selection of Turkey for such a project reflects our trust in the growth potential of the Turkish economy, and its position as a strategic international hub for business, trade and tourism,' said Dubai Holding executive chairman Mohammed Al Gergawi.
'This project, which we are launching in partnership with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, represents one of the largest Dubai Holding projects internationally,' he added.
The Dubai Towers - Istanbul will cover an area on the city's Büyükdere Street in Levent region of Sisli on the European side of Istanbul.
A team of renowned Turkish and international architectural, design and construction companies will be gathered to implement the project in keeping with Dubai International Properties' total commitment to unique architecture and first class quality.
The Mayor of Metropolitan Istanbul, Kadil Topbas, said: 'Our municipality holds a great deal of real estate portfolio. It wouldn't be hard to estimate the benefits to be gained from the real estate investment partnership enterprise of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.'
He added: 'Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality is going to develop its co-operation with Dubai International Properties step by step. In fact, today, Dubai International Properties confirms once more their will to make an investment of about $5 billion in our country in the years to come.'
Mohammed Al Gergawi added: 'The project has been undertaken under the guidance of General Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence, who is a firm believer in the importance of regional co-operation.
'General Shaikh Mohammed has recently held talks with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in which they discussed bilateral relations between Turkey and the UAE.'
Al Gergawi said: 'We are very pleased to announce this project, which we consider as a major step towards building stronger economic relations with Turkey and strengthens the cooperation necessary for the overall development of the region.
'The Dubai Towers - Istanbul project will offer tremendous economic, trade and tourism benefits and will further position Istanbul as one of the leading cities in the world for business, shopping and entertainment.'_
Dubai International Properties chief executive officer Farhan Faraidooni said: 'Apart from developing real estate, this project is set to contribute to the creation of jobs in the country. Turkey, on the crossroads of Europe and Asia, is a key market and one that is poised to take off in the coming months and years. '
He added: 'We are not just creating a high-rise in Istanbul, we are creating a unique mixed-use complex that will have Class A Office space, a luxury hotel, serviced and residential apartments, and a unique shopping boulevard.'
'Our designers have come up with a stunning architecture, which literally gives the buildings a 'twist'. We anticipate that the buildings will add another unique characteristic to the already stunning skyline of Istanbul.'
Source: TradeArabia News Service
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Biggest Shopping Mall of Europe Opened In Istanbul
Cevahir Shopping Mall, the biggest shopping mall in Europe and the second biggest one in the world, was opened in Istanbul on October 16th.
With a gross floor area of 420,000 m² and 348,300 m² of available retail space, Cevahir Shopping Mall has 280 shops, 34 fast food courts and 14 exclusive restaurants. The Mall also offers entertainment facilities such as the Cinema Complex, which has 12 saloons including one IMAX 3D cinema and one theatre saloon, with 2,500 seating capacity in total on a 9,000 m² ground.
2500 m² roof of the Shopping Mall carries world's biggest clock. Each number on the clock is 3 meters long.
Entertainment complex is 11,000 m², which also has a roller coaster that spans the interior of the mall.
WORLD'S LARGEST SHOPPING MALLS
1) West Edmonton Mall (Canada): 500,000 m²
2) Cevahir Shopping Mall Istanbul (Turkey): 420,000 m²
3) Mall of America (USA): 390,000 m²
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Istanbul - Candidate for European Capital of Culture
A committee of experts has sped up its activities to make Istanbul the European Capital of Culture in 2010. Civic leaders gathered with city and state officials to publicize a campaign to get Istanbul selected as a candidate for the European Capital of Culture for 2010. Nuri Colakoglu, head of the executive committee of the coordination body welcomed the distinguished speakers to the Sepetçiler Kasri for a panel to outline the new impetus given to Istanbul's candidacy for the 2010 post following the opening of Turkey's membership accession negotiations with the European Union on October 3rd.
Colakoglu speaking at the panel to inform the public of Turkey's nomination, along with a German town and Budapest, said that a number of projects have to be launched and some parts of Istanbul have to be restored to make Istanbul the European Capital of Culture in 2010.
Turkey will be competing with Germany and Hungary when they nominate their prospective candidate cities to the EU Commission in December. The European Council will decide the winner in May.
The European Capital of Culture is decided each year by the European Council on European Commission recommendation, which will take into account the view of a jury comprising seven prominent independent members, each of them experts in area of culture.
“After our great success in hosting the NATO summit last year, plus the Eurovision Song Contest, the Champion's League Final and most recently Formula One race, Istanbul has proven that it belongs in the same league as New York, Paris and Tokyo,” said Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas “Being selected as European Capital of Culture would be a great boost to the promotion of Istanbul.”
Following Genoa and Lille in 2004, the 2005 European Capital of Culture is Ireland's city of Cork. Exhibitions, concerts, theater, dance and much more will be offered in the city this year. In 2006 the Greek city of Patras, in 2007 Luxembourg and Sibiu, Romania, and in 2008 Liverpool from the UK and Norway's Stavenger have been chosen European culture capitals.
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MotoGP Riders Discover Istanbul
The MotoGP World Championship paddock set up at the Istanbul Park circuit as the series landed in Turkey for the first time in its 56-year history. The riders and teams have streamed into the country and spent the first half of the week uncovering the cultural delights of Europe's gateway to Asia .
On the eve of the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix several riders went on a tour to discover the city of Istanbul. Carlos Checa, Shinya Nakano and Gabor Talmacsi took a traditional and unforgettable boat excursion on the Bosphorus river and enjoyed the sight of the famous Bosphorus bridge, one of the world's largest suspension bridges, linking Europe to Asia .
“It's great to have the opportunity to visit this country, Istanbul is a beautiful city, there's an incredible mix of cultures that's very interesting,” commented Ducati Marlboro's Carlos Checa. “Regarding the track, I'd say it looks like one of the best in the world, there are a lot of uphill and downhill sections and it should be a great spectacle. This inaugural GP will be very important to promote our sport in this country.”
15,000 people, who are very fond of motorcycles, came to Istanbul to watch MotoGP race on October 23rd.
On October 23rd, Marco Melandri scored his first victory in the MotoGP class, after an impressive display at the Istanbul Park circuit, ahead of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden.
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The last international race of the year, Le Mans 1000km will take place between 11 th and 13 th November at Istanbul Park. The 1,000km-races that has been inspired of the legendary 24 hours Le Mans races is as an endurance racing. Le Mans Endurance Series (LMES) 1000km races take approximately 6 hours. 
Delegates of Association of Venezuelan Travel Agencies (AVAVIT) together with journalists, hoteliers visited Istanbul between November 5th and 10th. Istanbul was the host city of AVAVIT's General Assembly with around 300 participants.
Yildirim said that Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen Airport would be very active after the start of three private airline companies' flights including Pegasus. 
Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) chairman Oguz Satici and Istanbul Ready-to-Wear Exporters Union (IHKIB) chairman Süleyman Orakcioglu announced their fair and stated that the fair is very important for their sector and to promote Turkey's important textile centers such as Uludag, Denizli and Adana. 