Istanbul Bulletin

Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister organized a press conference at the Swissotel Bosphorus in Istanbul to announce the results of 2010 advertising campaign tender.

Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Günay, Promotion Director Cumhur Güven Tasbasi, Istanbul Culture and Tourism Director Prof. Dr. Ahmet Emre Bilgili, presidents of industry associations such as TUROFED, TURSAB, TUREB, AKTOB, TUROB, and media attended the conference.

Mr. Günay said that Turkey is allocating around US$100 million dollars of budget for promotion of the country in 2010; same amount as last year. US$45 million of this total budget will be used by advertisement agencies.
Turkey will be promoted with advertisements of 5 companies in the world; dDF from Turkey, M&S Saatchi from UK, Iconisus from USA, Mediumrare/Inbar from Dubai and Tel Aviv, and B Tops from China.

Turkey’s ‘Van cats’ become mascot of the 2010 World Basketball Championships which will take place in the cities of Ankara, Kayseri, Istanbul and Izmir between August 28th and September 12th next year.

The breed originates from the Lake Van area of south-eastern Turkey and is distinctive by its un-feline like love for water, which is why some call it the 'swimming cat'. Normally with a coat of white fur and blue eyes, the Van Cat is perhaps most distinctive because they are loyal, loving and intelligent. Some owners, in fact, have described them as ‘dogs in a cat suit' because they want to be with people wherever they go. Van cats are large, all white, and often have different coloured eyes, like the mascot for the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

The name of the mascot will be chosen with online voting on the tournament's official Web site in 2010 by the Turkish fans.

The draw for group matches of the 2010 World Basketball Championship, to be hosted by Turkey, was announced in Istanbul.

The official opening ceremony of "Japan Year 2010 in Turkey" was held at the Turkish-Japanese Foundation in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Monday, January 4th.

Delivering a speech in the ceremony, Turkish Culture & Tourism Minister Ertugrul Günay said activities which would be held within the scope of the "Japan Year in Turkey" would contribute to improvement of relations between Turkey and Japan.

Günay said they were glad about Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada's participation in the opening ceremony, and they hoped that Japanese people would attend activities that would be held in Turkey in 2010. Gunay mentioned that the activities would take place in several provinces of Turkey like Izmir, Mersin, Ankara, Safranbolu and Kaman as well as Istanbul.

Syrian tourism to Turkey has skyrocketed by 97 percent over the last months of 2009, following an agreement between the two countries to ease visa requirements in mutual visits.

A total of 36,000 tourists arrived in Turkey from Syria in September, jumping to 66,000 in October and 65,000 in November.

In October and November of 2008, 66,568 Syrian tourists entered Turkey, but the figures totaled 131,663 in the same period of this year. Syria is 15th on the list of countries from which most tourists visit Turkey, but tourism agencies claim Syria may enter the top 10 if the upward trend continues.

In October of this year, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and his Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Moallem, signed a deal to remove visa requirements at the border between the two countries. Ministers from both sides together raised a symbolic barrier on the Turkish-Syrian border, marking the end of visa requirements.

According to data from the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the number of tourists coming to Turkey in October and November has increased by 8 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 4,200,000. The number of foreign tourists visiting Turkey in the past 11 months has increased by 2.4 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 25,245,000. Germany with 4,292,000 tourists, Russia with 2,640,000 tourists and Britain with 2,388,000 tourists are the countries which visit Turkey the most.
Source: Today’s Zaman

Travel Turkey Izmir Tourism Exhibition was held between 10 and 13 December 2009 with the participation of 430 exhibitors from 17 countries.

This year, 125 hosted buyers and several media companies attended the fair that was organized by Izmir Fair (İZFAŞ), Hannover-Messe International and Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB).

The opening of the fair was attended by the Ministry of Turkey Culture and Tourism; Ertuğrul Günay and the President of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus; Mehmet Ali Talat, President of TURSAB; Basaran Ulusoy, governors of Izmir and Denizli, presidents of several associations, and tourism professionals. This year, the fair's guests of honour were Sarajevo Canton (Bosnia Herzegovina) and Turkish city of Denizli.

Speakers that took stage at the opening ceremony gave some hot information about what's new in culture and tourism in Turkey.

In the frame of "Hosted Buyers Program" organized by the contribution of Turkish Airlines and Hilton Izmir, buyer delegations from China, Croatia, Greece, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, and Syria were hosted in Izmir. Moreover, ASTA delegation visited the fair. Foreign guests had the opportunity to meet and make business contacts with local tourism professionals during the B2B workshops and international conferences.

The 19th General Assembly of TURSAB - Association of Turkish Travel Agencies was held in Istanbul. Basaran Ulusoy re-elected to the Presidency for the sixth time.

The 19th General Assembly started on Saturday, December 5 at Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Center. About a thousand of TURSAB members attended the General Assembly which was also honored by the Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay, Turkish Culture and Tourism Promotion Director Cumhur Güven Tasbasi, TUROFED President Ahmet Barut, TYD President Turgut Gur, TUREB President Serif Yenen.

The General Assembly started with a video presentation of TURSAB; showing what has been done by the association since the last general assembly. TURSAB President Basaran Ulusoy made the opening speech. Mr. Ulusoy said that Turkey got out of crisis with success, adding that Turkey will be the shining star of world in tourism industry in years of 2010 and 2011.

Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay took the stage after Mr. Ulusoy and said that they are on duty in last two years. Mr. Günay stated that Turkey survived from the economical crisis and epidemic diseases in 2009. Turkey was the only country standing that powerful added by Mr. Günay. Mr. Günay by reminding of 26 million tourist arrivals this year, revealed their new target as increasing the tourism income of the country to well over 25 billion dollars.

The General Assembly ended on Sunday, December 06, 2009 by the election of Basaran Ulusoy as continued President of TURSAB.

According to the announcement made by County Election Board; 1317 members voted from a total of 1951 General Assembly members. 1280 of the total votes are counted as valid while 37 of them are invalid. Basaran Ulusoy received 974 of the votes; Serhad Uslan got 319; while 268 votes counted for Polatoğlu Cem.

Turkish fashion designer Dilek Hanif will represent Turkey during the Paris Haute Couture Week on January 27 with her spring/summer collection.

Hanif said she has been participating in the Paris Haute Couture Week on her own for five years and she was honoured to be supported next year within the scope of “Season of Turkey” activities in France.

Another Turkish fashion designer, Cengiz Abazoğlu, would also participate in the haute couture week.

Nobel laureate Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk's latest book "The Museum of Innocence" is running for the title of 2010 Best Translated Book.

British the Guardian newspaper wrote that Pamuk and another Nobel prize winner Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio were going head to head with Roberto Bolano for the title.

The prize, set up in 2007 to combat the lack of translated titles on "best of the year" lists, is run by the international literature website Three Percent, part of New York's University of Rochester.

On the other hand, Orhan Pamuk's latest book "The Museum of Innocence" was chosen as the book of month by leading British bookseller Waterstone's. Waterstone's branch on Oxford Street, one of the busiest streets in British capital, decorated its shop window with Pamuk's book. A poster about the book reads, "an obsessive love story in modern Istanbul from a Nobel laureate novelist".

Pamuk makes the line-up for his latest novel "The Museum of Innocence", an Istanbul-set account of an obsessive love affair translated from the Turkish by Maureen Freely, while Le Clezio was picked by judges for his novel "Desert", an epic story of a North African desert tribe and its descendants translated from the French by C. Dickson. Bolano was selected for "The Skating Rink", a short novel about a beautiful figure skating champion translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews.

Twenty-five other novelist from 23 different countries writing in 17 different languages are also running for the title.

Last year's prize was won by Attila Bartis's "Tranquillity", translated from the Hungarian by Imre Goldstein. Bartis's novel tells of a writer who lives with his house-bound mother, a former actress.

The Museum of Innocence set in Istanbul between 1975 and today, tells the story of Kemal, the son of one of Istanbul's richest families, and of his obsessive love for a poor and distant relation, the beautiful Fusun, who is a shop-girl in a small boutique. The novel depicts a panoramic view of life in Istanbul as it chronicles this long, obsessive, love affair between Kemal and Fusun; and Pamuk captures the identity crisis experienced by Istanbul's upper classes who find themselves caught between traditional and westernised ways of being.

Orhan Pamuk For the past ten years, Pamuk has been setting up a museum in the house in which his hero's fictional family lived, to display Kemal's strange collection of objects associated with Fusun and their relationship. The museum will be called The Museum of Innocence and it opens in 2010.

Born in Istanbul in 1952, Pamuk is one of the most prominent novelists in Turkey. His books have sold over seven million books in more than fifty languages, making him the Turkey's best-selling writer. Pamuk is the recipient of numerous literary awards, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006.

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Turkish Painter to Open Exhibition in Japan

Turkish painter Aynur Kucukyalcin opened her exhibition "Karagoz" in the Japanese capital of Tokyo on January 8, 2010.

The exhibition opens at the Gallery Sukiwa between January 8 and 14.Kucukyalcin earlier inaugurated the same exhibition in the Japanese city of Kyoto.

Painter Aynur Kucukyalcin has been living in Japan for some time, and has studied traditional Japanese arts techniques.

Born in Bandirma (north-western Turkey) in 1973, the artist had decided to concentrate on art after receiving a medal in a national arts competition held by the Ministry of Energy of the Turkish Republic.

Following her graduation from the high school, attending to the "Fashion Design Institute" for two years, she received her diploma as a designer. Continuing her education on the field, four years later in 1998, she graduated from Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts in Istanbul, the department of "Stage Arts and Costume Design".

In 1996, during her student years, her costume designs, uniquely uniting the tradition and the modern attracted attention and an she was assigned by a Japanese institution to design the staff costumes of a theme-park introducing Turkish culture in Niigata, Japan (Kashiwazaki Turkish Culture Town).

Strongly believing that unless one masters his/her own tradition, it is simply impossible to create the new, she continued her training in traditional Ottoman "Illumination Art" (Tezhip) for another four years in the Topkapi Palace.

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Turkish Scientists Ascertain History of Three Temples in Mardin

Turkish scientists ascertained history of three temples in south-eastern province of Mardin by using "Thermo luminescence" Dating method.

Ages of three temples; Deyr Ul Zafaran Monastry, Zindan and Mor Yakup Church in Mardin could be determined by analysing pieces of bones, stones and soil in laboratory.

It was revealed that the temples were made 3830 years ago.

Niyazi Meric, Lecturer of Ankara University Engineering Faculty Department of Physics Engineering, told A.A. correspondent that they examined the soil sample taken from Deyr Ul Zafaran Monastry and determined that age of the soil dated back 3830 years ago.

Meric said they also took samples from a structure publicly known as Zindan which was made up of face stones. He said the analysis showed that construction date of the structure was 448 A.C.

Meric said Mor Yakup Church in Nusaybin town of Mardin was determined to be constructed in 7th Century A.C., but later restored.

Thermo luminescence dating is the use of heat on archaeological or geological samples to produce a light signal that is proportional to an accumulated radiation dose. It is used to date rocks, minerals and ceramics for dates between approximately 300 to 10,000 B.P. (before present).

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Two Turkish Hotels among World's Best Hotels

The Travel + Leisure magazine included two Turkish hotels in world's best 50 hotels in 2009.

These hotels are The Marmara Bodrum and The Ceylan Intercontinental Istanbul.

The magazine says, The Marmara Bodrum that has 95 rooms on a steep hill with views of the bay have either ground-floor terraces or sunny balconies. The magazine recommends to book corner rooms which have balconies looking over the Bodrum Bay. Stay at the hotel starts from $390 for doubles.

On the other hand, The Travel + Leisure magazine describes The Ceylan Intercontinental Istanbul as “Near Taksim Square, with a new spa that features a glass-walled circular relaxation room overlooking the Bosporus”. The magazine recommend room 1216 which is a standard room with top-notch views: you'll see Old City, the Marmara Sea, and Galata Tower from your bed. Price for doubles is starting from $500.

The Travel + Leisure magazine carried out the survey by votes of hundreds of readers all around the world.

A travel magazine based in New York City, New York, the Travel + Leisure has around 4.8 million readers. It is put out by American Express Publishing, which also publishes Food & Wine, Travel Leisure Golf (defunct as of early 2009), Travel Leisure Family, and Departures magazines.

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The online hotel price comparison site trivago has compared the hotel ratings of the most popular European beach destinations.

Following the European City Reputation Ranking, the online price comparison site trivago has analysed the most popular beach destinations for the first time. In the ranking the 50 most popular European beach destinations in 2009 were investigated. The analysis took into consideration over 380,000 hotel reviews for more than 4,000 hotels. Spain is the most popular European holiday destination with 15 cities in the Ranking, Italy has eleven cities, and France and Turkey both have five beach destinations.

With an average of 80.31 out of 100 points in the trivago hotel evaluation scale, the popular holiday resort Belek on the Turkish Riviera has the best online reputation. Belek is closely followed by health resort Binz in Germany with 80.11 points and the small Italian town Sorrento with 79.86 points.

EasyJet has announced that it will operate a new route from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to the Turkish resort of Bodrum this summer.

The addition of the services follows news that easyJet is basing its tenth plane at the airport, and it comes alongside wider expansion which will see 21 new routes added to its network.

Many of the additions are Turkey routes, with new Bristol links to Bodrum, Dalaman, plus new London Stansted flights to Bodrum, and Dalaman.

Commenting on the new connections from Liverpool Airport, easyJet spokesman Trevor Spinks said: "Don't let the post-Christmas blues get you down - start planning your escape to the sun now.

"The new easyJet routes to Bodrum will give the people of the north-west the opportunity to explore these beautiful and historic destination, at our famously low fares next summer."