Local companies are involved in preliminary discussions on setting up a plastics-manufacturing joint venture, Kostas Katsoglou, Dow’s head of eastern European and Russian operations, said today in an interview at a conference in Istanbul. No decision is expected this year, and Dow is still accessing the extent of its participation, he said.

“Istanbul is one of the most popular destinations for UAE residents seeking a short break,” said Ghaith Al Ghaith, flydubai’s CEO.

“With a wealth of historical sites and shopping options there is much to delight and occupy visitors. This year Istanbul is the European Capital of Culture so when you put that together with flydubai’s simple, uncomplicated, low fares, there has never been a better time to visit this ancient capital,” he added.

Flydubai’s new service to Istanbul will strengthen the growing trade relationship between Turkey and the UAE, valued at around $9 billion per annum, a statement said.

Operating five times a week, the new flight leaves Dubai at 1855 hrs and lands in Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport at 2250 hrs local time. The return flight departs at 2335 hrs arriving in Dubai at 0500 hrs local time. – TradeArabia News Service

The arrival of Turkish Airlines is expected to open a new travel window, spur trade and reduce travel costs to Europe as competition for the region picks up. Turkish Airlines is the fourth largest airline in Europe by passenger volumes according to officials.

The Airbus TK 601 that carries over 200 passengers touched Entebbe international airport at 7 a.m. with several dignitaries on board among them the Mayor of Istanbul, Kafir Topbas.

Current trade volumes are however largely in favour of Turkey with textiles dominating import products into Uganda.

“This development is very promising. I have no doubt that this flight that starts today will make significant contributions,” said Topbas.

Turkish airlines will fly three times weekly six hour non stop between Istanbul, Entebbe and Dar es Salaam on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

The airline has meanwhile launched a promotional fare running from June 14 to July 14 in which return trip tickets from Istanbul to Dar es Salaam will cost euros 367 and euros 376 from Istanbul to Entebbe including taxes.

Aviation experts say that Turkish Airlines will offer reduced costs to mainland European destinations like London, Brussels and Holland although passengers have to transit through Istanbul, Turkey. The entry of the large Airbus aircraft also adds to Entebbe’s emerging status as a regional hub away from the dominance of Nairobi.

The minister of state for industry, Simon Lokodo said in a statement that international passenger throughput at Entebbe has risen to 929,052 in 2009 up from a paltry 118,527 in 1991. Civil Aviation Authority projections put the airport’s international inflows at 1.8 million passengers by 2022.

“It is evident that added flights will immensely contribute towards this growth and even surpass the anticipated figures,” said Lokodo.

David Mugabe and Patrick Jaramogi

World-leader Louis Cruises was our host, and we had a great time.

During our visit to the Turkish capital, our guide warned us about pick-pockets and deals too good to be true at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, a world famous indoor flea market.

While waiting for the bus to take us back to our cruise ship, we dropped into the Fez Cafe, located about a block away from the bazaar, for cups of Turkish coffee. (We’d never tasted the real thing).

While the coffee/snacks menu looked pricey, how often do you get to drink Turkish coffee in Istanbul?

Since our waitress did not speak English, I gave her what I thought was enough Euros to cover the bill and tip, and headed back to our bus stop.

We’d walked about two blocks when I noticed a man chasing after us and stopped.

“You paid much to much,” he said, handing me my correct change.

Apparently, the menu prices were in Turkish liras, not Euros.

I took a few Euros back, but insisted he keep the rest.

While this was a small event, it ran counter to the warning we’d received on the bus. Turks, I’m guessing, are at least as honest as Canadians, if not more. And pick-pockets aren’t limited to Istanbul or Naples – in fact, they’re pretty much everywhere there’s a major crowd.

We left Istanbul, having nothing but respect for the Turks and the nice folks at Istanbul’s Fez Cafe.
Dave Fuller

Wait one minute, Friedman. That is a gross exaggeration, say Turkish officials.

You’re right. I exaggerate, but not that much. A series of vacuums that emerged in and around Turkey in the last few years have drawn Turkey’s Islamist government — led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party — away from its balance point between East and West. This could have enormous implications. Turkey’s balancing role has been one of the most important, quiet, stabilizers in world politics. You only notice it when it is gone. Being in Istanbul convinces me that we could be on our way to losing it if all these vacuums get filled in the wrong ways.

The first vacuum comes courtesy of the European Union. After a decade of telling the Turks that if they wanted E.U. membership they had to reform their laws, economy, minority rights and civilian-military relations — which the Erdogan government systematically did — the E.U. leadership has now said to Turkey: “Oh, you mean nobody told you? We’re a Christian club. No Muslims allowed.” The E.U.’s rejection of Turkey, a hugely bad move, has been a key factor prompting Turkey to move closer to Iran and the Arab world.

But as Turkey started looking more South, it found another vacuum — no leadership in the Arab-Muslim world. Egypt is adrift. Saudi Arabia is asleep. Syria is too small. And Iraq is too fragile. Erdogan discovered that by taking a very hard line against Israel’s partial blockade of Hamas-led Gaza — and quietly supporting the Turkish-led flotilla to break that blockade, during which eight Turks were killed by Israel — Turkey could vastly increase its influence on the Arab street and in the Arab markets.

Indeed, Erdogan today is the most popular leader in the Arab world. Unfortunately, it is not because he is promoting a synthesis of democracy, modernity and Islam, but because he is loudly bashing Israel over its occupation and praising Hamas instead of the more responsible Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, which is actually building the foundations of a Palestinian state.

There is nothing wrong with criticizing Israel’s human rights abuses in the territories. Israel’s failure to apply its creativity to solving the Palestinian problem is another dangerous vacuum. But it is very troubling when Erdogan decries Israelis as killers and, at the same time, warmly receives in Ankara Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the bloodshed in Darfur, and while politely hosting Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose government killed and jailed thousands of Iranians demanding that their votes be counted. Erdogan defended his reception of Bashir by saying: “It’s not possible for a Muslim to commit genocide.”

As one Turkish foreign policy analyst said to me: “We are not mediating between East and West anymore. We’ve become spokesmen for the most regressive elements in the East.”

Finally, there is a vacuum inside Turkey. The secular opposition parties have been in disarray most of the decade, the army has been cowed by wiretaps and the press has been increasingly intimidated into self-censorship because of government pressures. In September, the Erdogan government levied a tax fine of $2.5 billion on the largest, most influential — and most critical — media conglomerate, Dogan Holdings, to bring it to heel. At the same time, Erdogan lately has spoken with increasing vitriol about Israel in his public speeches — describing Israelis as killers — to build up his domestic support. He regularly labels his critics as “Israel’s contractors” and “Tel Aviv’s lawyers.”

Sad. Erdogan is smart, charismatic and can be very pragmatic. He’s no dictator. I’d love to see him be the most popular leader on the Arab street, but not by being more radical than the Arab radicals and by catering to Hamas, but by being more of a democracy advocate than the undemocratic Arab leaders and mediating in a balanced way between all Palestinians and Israel. That is not where Erdogan is at, though, and it’s troubling. Maybe President Obama should invite him for a weekend at Camp David to clear the air before U.S.-Turkey relations get where they’re going — over a cliff.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/opinion/16friedman.html

Turkey`s State Minister for foreign trade Zafer Caglayan addressed the event, saying Turkey`s geostrategic position and its historical and political ties with Europe made the country a bridge between the East and the West.

Caglayan said promotion of free trade, economic and industrial cooperation and boosting investment relations were “the best recipe” to tackle the fallout from the global economic recession.

The Turkish minister also said extra funds must be raised to support international trade with an eye to ensure economic growth again.

 
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-213267-117-mountain-home-of-the-storm-god-hittite-ivriz.html