The sui géneris violin concert completes an awards-ceremony directed by Cuban composer Manolito Simonet, who will close a day dedicated almost entirely to the versatile string instrument.

In fact, the opening ceremony of Cubadisco will have the Symphonic National Orchestra under the conduction of Professor Enrique Pérez Mesa, with Ecuadorian violinists Eva Steinsleger and Jorge Saade.

Saade will play for the first time in Cuba the first violin concert composed in Ecuador by Jorge Oviedo, which he considered an honor and a challenge.

Among the special guests stand out the pianists Frank Fernández and Aldo López Gavilan and the violinists Evelio Tieles, Alfredo Muñoz, Rafael Lay, Enrique Álvarez, among others.

According to Prensa Latina, Cultural Asset Fund Representative Rosa Maria Jorge highlighted that participation of Cuban artisans in this kind of events is important to promote market their handicrafts, as well as to exchange experiences.

The official explained that besides the Cuban International Fair, the artists also go to similar events in Mexico, Italy, Farance and other countries.

Wherever they have exhibited their handicrafts, the Cuban craftwork has been especially attractive, due to its creativity and variety, she said.

The Cuban guayabera, a typical shirt, was among the goods in greatest demand, and also knittings and crochets, necklaces made of seeds and other products made of wood, leather and metals.

A total of 11 artisans are participating in this event, and they have planned to extend the offer next year, with other artistic expressions, said the official.

Ulusoy stated that many hotels are already fully booked between June 15 and July 7 as well as between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, particularly in tourist hotspots such as Kemer, Belek, Bodrum, Side, Çeşme, Alanya, Kuşadası and Marmaris, where many prefer to vacations. Hotel owners have also noted that it will be difficult to find rooms in towns where tourists prefer to spend the holy month of Ramadan, which will occur during the summer, as many foreign tourists come to Turkey at this time, particularly because some hotels also provide special activities for religious guests during the holy month.

Ulusoy also noted that banks offer installment payment options to customers who book vacation packages offered by travel agencies on their credit cards. He stated, “The purchase of early reservation insurance means people can later choose to cancel their booking, and this allows people to freely book their vacations.”

Kemal Kahya, who is responsible for sales and marketing at Kahya Hotels, told Today’s Zaman that early reservations are higher this year than in previous years, with those made for June or later having increased 15 percent year-on-year. Şah Inn Paradise General Manager Yusuf Yücel said that this increase in bookings is due to an increase in people’s awareness of early reservations over the last five years, adding: “Looking at reservations until the end of April last year, reservations have risen by 20 percent this year. We also reduced our prices for early bookings for the month of Ramadan, which also increased demand from non-observing vacationers and other tourists.”

The data, which were prepared according to information accessed from the General Directorate of Security, also revealed that the number of tourists visiting the country went up by 22.5 percent in the first quarter compared to same period in 2012, with a total of 4.2 million tourists during this time. The number of tourists visiting the country in the first quarter of last year was 3.4 million.

The data show that 40,000 tourists out of the 1.8 million in March were day visitors, while most entries were made through gates in İstanbul, Antalya, Edirne, Artvin and İzmir in that order. Meanwhile, Germany led the way in being the country of origin of most tourists with a share of 16.6 percent in March. Iran and Georgia followed with 7 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively. Syria, Bulgaria, Russia, England, Greece, Azerbaijan and France also ranked in the top 10.

“I believe that in terms of equipment facilities, Japan and Spain may be far ahead of Turkey. However, what Turkey can leverage is its cultural richness. Turkey has a rich civilizational history and this actually justifies Turkey as a country to host the Games. Indeed, I want Turkey to host the 2020 Olympic Games,” said the Korean minister.

The three cities that are the candidates to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in 2020 are Madrid, Tokyo and İstanbul. All three candidate cities went through a detailed inspection by the Evaluation Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in March, with Tokyo having been inspected first at the beginning of the month, Madrid in mid-month and İstanbul at month’s end. Now, the three countries are waiting for the OIC to announce the host city in September.

“The cultural and emotional aspect of the Turkish people would be an advantage for Turkey. I can’t tell you what the secret is behind getting the chance to host the Games, but we believe that Turkey is our brother country and it deserves to host the Games,” said Yoo.

Minister Yoo believes that hosting the games would have an economic as well as a social impact for Turkey. “There were many substantial changes in Korea after Seoul hosted the 1988 Olympics Games. Most profoundly, the mindset of the people changed. Indeed, the way of thinking of the generation prior to the Games is very different from the one after the Games. I believe Turkey will experience the same changes after hosting the Olympics Games,” said the minister.

The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated from September to October of 1988 in Seoul, South Korea.

“Turkey should stress that it is important for it as a developing country to host the Games, rather than developed ones like Japan and Spain in terms of economic impact. The economy of the country would benefit because the market will be globalized. This was the case in Korea. However, I believe that the impact of the Olympics Games will not only be limited to the economic aspect but that there will also be a political and societal aspect,” said the minister.

Should İstanbul be selected, it will be the first time in history that the Olympic Games will be organized by a Muslim-majority country.

The economic situation of a country is of major importance, being an indicator of whether the country will be able to provide the necessary funds to host the Games.

The number of flyers on foreign routes during the period grew by 33 percent, while the number of passengers on domestic flights grew by 16 percent. The total number of THY passengers in 2012′s first quarter was 8 million.

The rapid growth will see THY further expand its fleet with an order this year of 70 to 95 of Boeing’s 737 passenger line, various news outlets reported last week. Citing a source at Boeing, AP said the order might total around $6.9 billion. The carrier has already almost doubled the size of its fleet in the last five years. Company officials have said that the fleet could double again by the end of the decade.

Those plans come as the carrier has aggressively expanded its network of foreign flights, opening this month nonstop flights between İstanbul and Kuala Lumpur and İstanbul and Houston. The rapid expansion has reportedly left crews and pilots overworked and threatening the company with a strike just weeks after THY reached an agreement with its main labor union.

Over the past decade, Turkish Airlines and its discount competitor Pegasus have made İstanbul one of largest hubs for air travel between Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

During her visit Madonna had sent a hand written letter scrawled on a piece of paper to the Malawian President Joyce Banda.

The letter had congratulated the president on her election back in April 2012 but included a number of errors.

Banda had not accepted the offer but had instead criticised the singer for not keeping her word and building 10 schools in the country without government consent.

According to BBC, Malawi’s Eunice Kazembe the country’s Minister of Education denied the construction of schools, “She has built classrooms at existing schools… really it’s a difference in terminology,” the minister said.

The minister although grateful of the assistance from Madonna mentioned protocol must be observed.

Back in 2011 Madonna announced plans worth $15 million towards building the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, an institute set to be able to accommodate up to 400 students. Following financial mismanagement the project was called off and Madonna had instead announced she would be building 10 schools in the country.

Madonna had visited Malawi with her two adopted children from the country as well, visiting the orphanage of her two kids Daivd and Mercy James and the 10 school blocks she had funded for.

During her departure Madonna and her entourage were deprived of the VIP status and had to go through all ordinary check in procedures before being able to board her own private jet.

Melen Çayı in Düzce is among the best-known rafting rivers in Turkey, with ample opportunities for both athletes and recreational rafters. The Düzce rafting season opened in March of this year and generally continues till July.

Although the country in the past hosted what would later become the Rafting World Championships, Turkey has never placed in the competition and is no longer scheduled to host large-scale International Rafting Federation (IRF) events.

This is something that rafting advocates and athletes hope to change in the near future. However, this will be difficult without a dedicated federation to guide the sport’s development.

Setting a new course

But there is hope. The related sporting branch of canoeing is governed by its own body in Turkey, and that may, on the side, help rafting develop the infrastructure and publicity it needs to get a federation off the ground.

Representatives from the International Canoe Federation (ICF) and the Turkish Canoe Federation (TCF) at the end of March visited Ardeşen in the Black Sea province of Rize to check the progress of a canoe and rafting course project. Construction on the new course has been under way since 2011.

Member of the ICF board of directors Jean-Michel Prono was impressed by the TCF’s project in Rize. “I was faced with results that surpassed my expectations,” Prono said.

“In its current state, this project is not yet in line with international standards, but it has the foundations necessary for those standards. I am certain it will reach these standards when it is completed in the period ahead,” he added.

The course will be officially opened in a ceremony in May and both the TCF and ICF plan to hold international competitions there. Although it is being constructed by the more developed TCF, the course will also be suitable for rafting.

“Until today, Turkey has not had a course that met Olympic standards. The first step toward this has been taken in Ardeşen,” TCF head Sami Mengütay noted.

Turkey’s current

Not too far from the new course in Rize, the Çoruh River in the northwestern province of Erzurum — a prime rafting region in Turkey — carried the 1993 edition of the 50-team international competition of Project RAFT.

In 1994, Project RAFT participants decided to form a federation to govern the sport on a global level — the IRF. The rafting competition grew after that and has been officially declared a world championship event since 1995. The world championships have been held every two years since 2000.

Each river and rapid is given a rating between one and six, where one is a gentle current and six is nearly impassable. Çoruh is a class five, for much more experienced white-water athletes.

The IRF’s river database also lists Turkey’s Alaraçay and Dalaman rivers among its officially accepted rafting locales. Both rivers are on the sunny southwest Mediterranean coast of Turkey and are generally classed as class three rapids, although Dalaman moves up to class four in certain sections.

Turkey does host its own competitions, including the Erzurum Youth and Adult Rafting Championships last June on Tortum River in the district of Uzundere.

Twenty-two Turkish rafting teams were in attendance. The Çaykur, Ekstremtürk, Özüm Doğa, Yeşil Rizem, Munzur Fırat and İyidere sports clubs placed in the two-day event.

Redirecting the tide

Rafting is currently governed by Turkey’s Federation of Developing Sport Branches (GOSBF). As the name of the federation would suggest, the sport has not quite come into its own in Turkey. Most people still view it as a recreational or touristic activity.

However, the lack of a dedicated federation, plus the fact that the GOSBF has just one rafting delegate, is a mere technicality. The GOSBF is a fully established member of the IRF, the sporting body that organizes and oversees all major rafting events around the globe.

Beyond that, the sport is not widely regarded on the international level, either. Although canoeing and kayaking have been Olympic events every year since 1936, rafting has never been featured.

There are plans to change this mentality, at least in Turkey. Beyond the formation of a dedicated rafting federation, these plans will include the education and training of referees plus further development of courses and infrastructure in Turkey.

“The federation and our Youth & Sport Ministry’s education department are working together. We are planning to organize new coaching and judging courses in Antalya, Rize, Erzincan, Bursa, İstanbul, Ankara and more in 2013,” GOSBF rafting specialist and IRF committee vice-president Kanat Karamürsel told Sunday’s Zaman.

Karamürsel may no longer be the coach of the U-21 national team, which placed third in Sprint and H2H events at the 2010 world championships, but he still has plans to push Turkish rafting to new heights. “We are planning to participate in youth (U-19), junior (U-23) and Senior” divisions the World R6 Rafting Championships in New Zealand on November 13-24 this year, he said.

“We hope that we will be an independent federation — the Turkish Rafting Federation — as soon as possible,” Karamürsel added.

“This federation [GOSBF] is a bridge,” another GOSBF spokesman agreed. “Within perhaps a year, rafting and offshore could have independent federations.”

The İstanbul Cultural and Tourism Directorate said on Tuesday that at least 838,201 tourists visited İstanbul in the first three months of this year, a 23.8 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

The directorate hailed the progress made by İstanbul in the tourism sector at a time when an economic recession was ongoing in Europe.

The data also showed that two out of every three tourists who came to Turkey between Oct. 2012 and March 2013 visited İstanbul.

On the list of countries with the highest number of visitors to İstanbul in the first quarter, 10 percent came from Germany, followed by Russia with 6 percent and the UK with 4 percent. The US came in fourth with 4 percent and France fifth with 4 percent.
The number of visitors to İstanbul hit 9.5 million in 2012, with authorities expecting this figure exceed 10 million this year.

Tourists are expected to spend at least $11 billion this year. This figure, however, is roughly half the spending seen in international shopping capitals London and New York, which topped the list at $21.1 and $19.4 billion respectively.

THY CEO Temel Kotil announced a year ago that THY had plans to add Boston, Houston and cities in Florida to its destinations. Houston, which is home to more than 5,000 Turkish Americans, marks the first of these new US destinations, and Texas, the state where Houston is located, is the number one trade partner of Turkey among US states. At least 340 Houston companies report doing business with Turkey according to data from the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP).

Meanwhile, Aqaba will become the 221st destination of the carrier’s network, which includes 98 countries. Flights are scheduled on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Return flights start from 99 euros including all taxes and fees.

In the middle of this month, THY announced that it will buy 117 planes from European aircraft manufacturer Airbus between 2015 and 2020. THY carried some 39 million passengers last year and expects to boost this number to 46 million this year. After launching 33 new routes in 2012, the carrier hopes to open as many as 40 more this year, around a quarter of them to Africa, and aims to be flying to every country in Europe by the end of the year.

Several members of the Evaluation Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), together with nearly 200 journalists, arrived on Friday in İstanbul, one of three candidate cities for the 2020 Olympic Games, to begin their inspection on Sunday of the city’s venues.

Following the arrival of the remaining 12 members of the IOC committee in the city on Saturday afternoon, the 15 members of the committee, who have already inspected Tokyo and Madrid, the other two candidate cities for the Olympic and the Paralympic Games to be held in 2020, will go ahead with their inspection tour for İstanbul’s Olympics bid.

This is İstanbul’s fifth bid for the world’s biggest sports organization, and the IOC delegation will be received by a number of top-level Turkish officials during their visit, which will end on March 27. After first getting together on March 24 with Youth and Sports Minister Suat Kılıç,members of the commission will be met by President Abdullah Gül at a welcoming get-together at the Four Seasons Hotel in İstanbul, where the group is staying. And on March 26, the committee will be hosted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for dinner at the Esma Sultan Mansion on the Bosporus.

Turkish officials strongly believe that İstanbul, with its unique qualities and some of its venues already completed, has a good chance of being selected as the host city for the 2020 Summer Olympics. “İstanbul, which is the only city in the world that makes it possible to organize the Games on two continents, incorporates all values that the Olympics stand for,” Kılıç has said. “We believe that the world needs the values that İstanbul represents,” he added.

During their four-day visit, the Evaluation Commission will be accompanied by a team of officials headed by İbrahim Kalın, the deputy undersecretary of the Prime Ministry. A number of Turkish officials, including ministers such as Kılıç on March 24, Minister of Finance Mehmet Şimşek on March 25, Minister of Culture and Tourism Ömer Çelik and Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Binali Yıldırım the following day, are set to make presentations on İstanbul’s level of preparedness for the Games to the committee.

The presentations will cover a total of 14 areas including the venues where the Games would be held, such as soccer stadiums and gymnasiums; transportation facilities; historic and tourist attractions; finance; marketing; government and public support for the Games; accommodation facilities; and security.

Turkish officials are expected to be exposed to a shower of questions by members of the committee, who completed their inspection of Tokyo at the beginning of the month and Madrid last week, about their preparations and what İstanbul has to offer the Games should they be held here.

The delegation will submit its report to the IOC in July, and the city that will host the 2020 Olympic Games will be determined at an IOC meeting to be held in Buenos Aires on Sept. 7-10. İstanbul also stands out from the other two candidate cities with letters of guarantee for its candidacy presented by the president, prime minister, speaker of Parliament and 17 ministries of the government. Turkey’s opposition parties also formerly announced their support of İstanbul’s bid.

The members of the IOC delegation arrived in Turkey on a Turkish Airlines (THY) plane, the body of which was specially decorated with an “İstanbul 2020” decal. This is the fifth time İstanbul has been a candidate for hosting the Olympics, whereas it is the third consecutive time for Madrid and the second time in a row for Tokyo.

Members of the IOC’s Evaluation Commission are as follows: Sir Craig Reedie (chairman of the commission; UK), Guy Drut (member of the IOC; France), Frank Fredericks (member of the IOC; Namibia), Nat Indrapana (member of the IOC; Thailand), Claudia Bokel (member of the IOC; Germany), Patrick Baumann (member of the IOC; Switzerland), Eduardo Paloma (head of the El Salvadorian Olympics Committee; Spain), Andrew Parsons (head of the Brazilian Olympics Committee), Stefano Manelli (transportation engineer; Italy), John McLaughlin (IOC finance official; Canada), Grant Thomas (member of IOC working group; US), David Stubbs (IOC environment consultant; UK) and Gilbert Felli (IOC sports director; Switzerland).

The new regulations will allow Russian tourists who need immediate attention in cases such as traffic accidents or accidental poisoning to go to a hospital in Turkey for treatment at no cost.

After Germans, Russian tourists are the largest group of visitors who come to Turkey for their vacation. Every year, over 14 million Russians travel abroad for pleasure and Turkey is one of the primary destinations they choose. In 2012, close to 4 million Russians visited Turkey, up from 3,468,214 in 2011.

Officials from the ministry cited the high number of Russian patients who become ill in hot weather as the reason behind the move. They noted that while the health insurance of many European tourists provides for free treatment in Turkish hospitals, Russian tourists often do not have the same opportunity.

The second move to attract Russian tourists is a new hotline designated specially for Russian speakers. Russian visitors can dial 179 for general assistance while in Turkey.

A statement made by the Hatay Governor’s Office said the prime suspect in the murder of Sierra was captured in the Reyhanlı district of Hatay.

The suspect, Z.T., publicly known as “Laz Ziya,” was captured by security forces at around 12:00 p.m., Hatay Governor Celalettin Lekesiz confirmed at a press conference.

After first being questioned by police, the suspect was referred to court.

New Yorker Sierra, 33, disappeared late in January while vacationing in İstanbul. She last contacted her family on the morning of Jan. 21, the day before she was supposed to begin her journey back to New York. She never showed up for her flight out of İstanbul.

Twelve days after her disappearance, police found her body behind the ancient city walls in the low-income neighborhood of Cankurtaran.

The 532-room luxury resort is the first Ritz-Carlton in Abu Dhabi and the ninth property in the Middle East for the luxury hotel operator.

Inspired by 15th to early 17th century Renaissance architecture and the urban planning of the city of Venice, The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal is located at the waterfront and consists of ten stately buildings arranged in a crescent formation. Overlooking the 1,600 square meter pool, the backdrop of the hotel is the majestic Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The property features 447 luxurious guestrooms and suites, in addition to 85 private one- and two-bedroom villas.

“We are delighted to open our first hotel in the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi, a city we have waited to be in until finding absolutely the right location,” stated Herve Humler President and Chief Operations Officer of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. “Warm Arabian hospitality combined with legendary Ritz-Carlton service will create many unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences for visitors from around the world.”

Samaras is accompanied by a delegation of his cabinet members and Grek businesspeople.

He will hold a bilateral meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the two leaders will appear in a joint press conference after participating in a meeting of the Turkey-Greece High Level Cooperation Council.

Samaras and Erdogan will also participate in a Turkish-Greek Business Forum at Istanbul’s Ciragan Palace.

American multimillionaire Dennis Tito, who in 2001 paid a reported $20 million to ride aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), unveiled plans Wednesday for the first manned mission to Mars and back with a January 2018 launch date, an “extremely ambitious goal,” experts told RIA Novosti.

“The goal is to send two people, but to allow everyone else along for the ride,” said Tito at a news conference Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington. “It is a challenging, yet attainable goal,” he said.

The mission dubbed “Inspiration Mars” has been described as “bold” and “risky” by both supporters and critics alike.

The so-called “fast, free-return” mission would begin on Jan. 5, 2018 when two crew members – a husband and wife astronaut duo – board a shuttle, approximately the size of a Winnebago, as private citizens to embark on a 501-day roundtrip flyby, passing within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of the Martian surface.

No attempted landing or orbit is scheduled, just a barebones, “Lewis and Clark” expedition style trip Tito said, comparing the minimalistic approach to the engine of a classic car. The crew will use the gravitational influence of Mars to “slingshot” the space vehicle onto a return course back to Earth.

Tito and his team are executing the project as a private, nonprofit endeavor under the umbrella of his Inspiration Mars Foundation.
Foundation officials said conversations are underway with several US commercial aerospace companies about potential launch and crew vehicles and systems.

“The mission will be built around proven, existing space transportation systems and technologies derived from industry, NASA and the ISS that can be available in time to support the launch date,” officials with the foundation said in a statement.

“The flyby architecture lowers risk,” said Tito. “With no critical propulsive maneuvers, no entry into the Mars atmosphere, and no rendezvous and docking,” he said.

But the risks that do exist could pose major problems experts said, including the safety of the crew against cosmic radiation and the short timeline leading up to the launch.

“The project is extremely ambitious, especially given the timeframe,” said Graham Candler, a professor in the department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Minnesota.

“There is a lot of work that has been done with people being on the ISS for an extended period of time,” Candler said, but there are still risk factors he added. “You do go through bone loss, your muscles get deconditioned so you have to exercise extensively which requires a significant amount of space,” Candler said.

There is also a psychological factor. “Not many people can mentally withstand the travel, a half-year in each direction,” Candler said.
“Our primary goal is to keep the crew alive for just shy of a year-and-a half mission,” said Dr. Jonathan Clark chief medical officer of the Inspiration Mars Foundation.

And while radiation is a concern, “it’s not a show stopper,” Clark said. He added the project will consult with NASA about radiation protection.

Astronaut candidates will face a rigorous screening process that will take place within the next six to twelve months.

Tito, who spent eight days in space in 2001, said he personally committed two years of his own money to keep the Mars project alive. He would not comment on the overall cost, but said he expects the project to be funded primarily through private, charitable donations.

“Clearly there are risks associated with the mission,” Tito said. “But these are exactly the kind of risks that America should be willing to take in order to advance our knowledge, experience and position as a world leader.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday started touring Cappadocia, a famous town in central Turkey with its chimney rocks, underground cities and churches carved into rocks.

Merkel left her hotel early in the morning and toured Goreme National Park where she was welcomed with a hot air balloon carrying a banner that reads, “Welcome to Turkey” and threw roses at Merkel’s car.

Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Omer Celik and Governor of Nevsehir Abdurrahman Savas are accompanying Merkel during her visit.

Merkel also visited the Dark Church and examined the frescos of Jesus. “I really liked here, I’ve always wanted to come. Cappadocia is a great place,” said ensorcelled Chancellor.

Kazakh and Thailand’s aviation bodies have agreed to expand flights and increase their numbers, the Kazakh Transport and Communications Ministry said today.

Previously, regular flights were made twice a week only on the Almaty – Bangkok route. At present, Kazakh airlines will be able to make regular flights from any Kazakh city to Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi and Utapao.

Kazakh aviation bodies permitted Thai airlines to make regular flights from Thailand’s any point to Astana, Almaty, Karaganda and Shymkent.

However, the parties agreed to increase the number of regular flights up to 14 from Almaty – Bangkok, up to 7 flights in the direction of Astana – Bangkok and all other routes – up to 3 flights a week.

Titled “VitrA Contemporary Architecture Series Presents: Please Do Not Disturb,” the show, which runs until April 7, focuses on the concept of holiday as the current theme for the project is “tourism buildings.” İstanbul Modern’s pop-up space has been divided into five rooms for the works of Burak Arıkan, Kerem Ozan Bayraktar, Nermin Er, Meriç Kara and Metehan Özcan, making a reference to the atmosphere of holiday residences.

The show presents some photographs, a collection of postcards, computer animations, videos and a series of objects, all inviting the visitor to have an experience of a virtual holiday and think about the concepts of tourism and the passage of time.

There are also film screenings under the title “Fon Şehirler” (background cities), presenting some contemporary Turkish movies at the İstanbul Modern Cinema within the scope of the exhibition.

A book titled “Tourism and Recreation Buildings,” about architectural approaches in Turkey after 2000, will also be published for the new theme of the project that is organized by the ceramic company VitrA and Turkish Association of Architects in Private Practice. The book will also focus on other projects devoted to tourism, construction of hotels, social facilities and some other buildings.

Pope said in his message that after examining his conscience “before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise” of his position as head of the world’s Roman Catholics.

He added that “with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.”

According to data provided by the İstanbul Culture and Tourism Directorate on Monday, İstanbul hosted 532,726 foreign visitors in the first month of this year. One interesting detail in the data was that the number of tourists who arrived in İstanbul by sea had increased by 400 percent in the same period. Observers pointed to increasing cruise-ship traffic to İstanbul over the past months.

In the list of countries that sent the highest number of visitors to İstanbul in January, 7.7 percent came from Germany, followed by Russia with 7.3 percent and the UK with 4.1 percent. The US came in fourth with 4 percent while the North African country of Libya made it into the top five in the list with 3.9 percent.

Evaluating the figures, directorate manager Ahmet Emre Bilgili said the early encouraging figures will boost morale in the city’s tourism sector and that İstanbul looked to attract even more visitors this year compared to 2012. The number of visitors to İstanbul hit 9.5 million in 2012, with authorities expecting this figure exceed 10 million this year.

The plane, a Bombardier CRJ200 operated by Kazakh airline Scat, was carrying 16 passengers and five crew members, according to a statement posted on the prosecutor’s website. It was flying a domestic route between the northern city of Kokshetau and Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, and crashed about three miles away from the airport.

According to Scat, the plane crashed while attempting to land in bad weather conditions. The weather near Almaty on Tuesday afternoon appeared to be foggy and humid, according to Weather.com.

The airline has promised to confirm the official cause of the crash once the plane’s black box flight data recorder is recovered.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed his condolences on Tuesday to the families and friends of those killed in the crash, according to a statement on his website.

Kazakh authorities have opened a criminal case based on the violation of transportation safety rules resulting in the death of two or more people, the Prosectuor General’s office said in its statement.

EMITT has received applications for participation from 4,500 local and foreign firms, already making the tourism fair the world’s fifth largest such event. Last year’s fair attracted 128,000 visitors, a 12 percent increase over the preceding year.

Opened on Thursday to run until Jan. 27 at İstanbul’s TUYAP Fair and Convention Center, EMITT is coordinated and organized by Turkey’s Ekin Fair. Besides foreign travel professionals, Turkish local authorities and municipalities have shown great interest in the fair, looking to enhance their cities’ popularity as a center of tourism. The Ekin Fair director, Hacer Aydın, says EMITT is among the most respected international tourism fairs as it offers a prominent venue for state and private tourism agencies to build on profitable business ties. “The applications from companies we have received so far already mark a new record in the number of participant firms in the fair. We are looking to boost the fair’s appeal in the years to come,” she says.

Highlighting that the number of visitors to Turkey was 9.58 million in 2000 and that this increased to over 31 million last year, Aydın said fairs similar to EMITT played a considerable role in this regard. She said the number of visitors to Turkey’s touristic areas that were represented at EMITT fairs had increased by as high as seven times since 1997 when EMITT was first held.

Speaking at a meeting to review tourism activities in the region, Günay stated that Şirince will be a protected area, as well as Bozdağ, in the southwestern province of Denizli, and Karakaya and Hekimdağ in the eastern province of Malatya.

Şirince became a center of attraction for believers in a prophecy based on the Mayan calendar that the world would end on Dec. 21, 2012. In the village, there are two 19th-century churches — one restored, one in the process of being restored — that survive from the period before the 1924 Greco-Turkish population exchange there. The town was a former Ottoman Greek settlement whose elegant wooden-framed houses were built on terraces on the hillside.

The minister further stated that tourism activities have been affected by the violence in Syria. “Normally we host around 1 million Iranian tourists each year, but this year there was a 40 percent drop in the number of the tourists coming from Iran,” said Günay.

The minister added that they will increase the bed capacity in the protected areas, with 18,000 beds planned. “Turkey is now among the top 10 countries in tourism in the world and we aim to be among the five with a steady growth in tourism,” added Günay.

According to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in December, the number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose by 0.6 percent between January and November 2012, reaching 30.4 million visitors. Turkey’s total revenue from tourism in 2011 equaled $23 billion, while the figure for the first three-quarters of last year was $17.3 billion.

Talks on cooperation in air transport are planned to be held there, an official Turkmen source said today.

Negotiations are expected to end on January 17.

It was reported in August of 2012 that Turkmenistan Airlines envisage opening new cost effective flights from Turkmenbashi to Istanbul (Turkey), Moscow (Russia) and Aktau (Kazakhstan) and from the airport in Ashgabat to Urumqi (China), Phuket (Thailand), Novosibirsk (Russia), Milan ( Italy), Antalya (Turkey), Seoul (Republic of Korea) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) between 2012-2015.

Further modernization of Turkmenistan’s civil aviation fleet and an increase in the number of Boeing aircraft to 31 between 2016-2020 will open new flights from Turkmenbashi to St. Petersburg (Russia) and from Ashgabat to Jeddah and Medina (Saudi Arabia), Cochin and Ahmedabat (India), Samara (Russia), Hanoi (Vietnam), Vienna (Austria), Sofia (Bulgaria), Budapest (Hungary), Manama (Bahrain), New York (USA) and Toronto (Canada).

At present, besides domestic flights, Turkmenistan Airlines makes regular flights to Abu Dhabi, Amritsar, Almaty, Bangkok, Birmingham, Delhi, Dubai, Kiev, London, Moscow, Minsk, Beijing, Istanbul, Saint-Petersburg, Frankfurt and other world cities.

Turkmenistan became a full member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which is a UN specialized agency that was formed in April 1993. At present, work on Turkmenistan’s accession to the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) is underway.

THY also looks to have a 78.8 percent occupancy rate, flying 17.7 million domestic passengers and 27.3 million international passengers. The statement said the company will continue to expand its operations and increase its number of destinations. With recent decisions taken by the executive board, the company is expected to begin flights to the Colombian capital of Bogotá, Aqaba in Jordan and Mali’s capital Bamako once permission has been granted. Other flights that will become operational in 2013 are to Caracas, Mexico City, Kuala Lumpur and Manila.

Commenting on the statement, THY CEO Hamdi Topçu said there will be nowhere in Europe that THY does not fly to in 2013, also announcing that the frequency for existing flights will be increased and more flight destinations will be added in Europe and the Middle East. He underlined that with its stable growth, number of passengers and quality of services offered, THY has attracted attention from around the world.

Furthermore, he implied the company has plans to increase the frequency of flights operated to many countries in Africa, noting, “Without a doubt, we will realize our targets with 18 million employees and a highly qualified management team.”

In addition, Topçu stated that as a result of the two agreements signed by the Transportation Ministry’s Civil Aviation General Directorate (SHGM) to improve the flight network, the number of passengers flying to African countries has risen by almost 50 percent. “In past years, flights were operated to 13 African countries but once the agreements were signed last year 12 more countries were added to the list, bringing the number of passengers up to 1.5 million from 998.000 before the agreements,” he commented.

Topçu added that as accessibility to Africa has increased, it has attracted more investment and it is expected that the demand will increase for more flight connections to the continent.

The increase in passengers was contributed to by an increase in the number of Turkish Airlines (THY) routes and flights in 2012. The airport is the main THY hub. The number of flights by all carriers at the airport rose from 323,000 in 2011 to 334,000 in 2012.

Domestic and international fliers averaged about 100,000 a day in 2012, and 125 airlines used the airport throughout the year. The busiest days for the airport in 2012 were Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. According to data, the busiest month of the year was September, when the number of arrivals and departures totaled 132,000, breaking a record. On Sept. 2, the airport hosted the most passengers of any day last year, 130,587.

Observers have acknowledged that the airport’s capacity will not be sufficient to meet demand in the future. THY Chairman Hamdi Topçu had suggested taking over the operation of a nearby military airport and moving the military functions to another location in the city back in April. However, in November, plans for a third airport to be built in İstanbul between Yeniköy and Akpınar, villages north of İstanbul’s European side, near the Black Sea, were revealed by Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Binali Yıldırım. Once the third airport becomes operational in 2016, part of Atatürk Airport will be turned into a congress hall and the remainder of the facility will continue to serve as an airport on a smaller scale.

The number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose 0.6 percent between January and November of this year, reaching 30.4 million people, data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed on Tuesday.

Turkey enjoyed a 2.21 percent year-on-year rise in November in the number of tourists. A total of 1.63 million people visited the country in the 11th month of the year. It rose 0.37 percent the preceding month.

Turkey’s total revenue from tourism in 2011 equaled $23 billion, while this figure for the first three quarters of this year was $17.3 billion, the ministry’s data reveal.

In 2011 as a whole, tourist arrivals had increased 9.86 percent to 31.46 million, and revenue generated by tourism amounted to $23.02 billion. Of the visitors who arrived in Turkey in November of this year, 127,924 were overnight tourists; this figure was 1.99 million from January to November. Germany sent the highest number of visitors to Turkey in November at 263,034; Georgia followed with 123,532 and Bulgaria with 112,476.

$1.2 bln loss in tourism revenues due to Syria

Ongoing domestic violence in its southern neighbor Syria translated into an approximately $1.2 billion loss in Turkish tourism revenues in 2012, and the number of tourists from the region fell by 2 million over figures from 2011, Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay said on Tuesday. On the other hand, the number of visitors from other regions recorded an increase from January to November of this year.

Relations between Ankara and Damascus have been in tatters since the outbreak of domestic violence in Syria early last year. Notably following the downing of a Turkish jet by Syria, both governments have increased their criticism of each other. In time, the crisis saw Iran and even Iraq enter the “tension game.” Add to this the lingering diplomatic rift with Israel, and Turkey has seen a decline in the number of visitors to Turkey from the region — Iran, Syria, Israel and Iraq.

Evaluating the performance in tourism in 2012 in a written statement, Günay said the ongoing civil war in Syria has taken its toll. “With the unrest, the number of tourists from the neighboring region has declined by a total of 2 million. … If we calculate the average spending during their stay in Turkey per tourist at $600, our losses hit $2 billion so far in 2012,” he explained.

Aydın commented that THY currently operates eight international flights to and from Ankara and plans to increase the figure to 16 in the near future, and 20 later on.

Noting that he had recently met with Emrullah Kirişçi, THY’s sales manager in Ankara, Aydın said THY flights from Ankara to Kiev would commence soon. “Flights to Mecca and Medina have already been confirmed but are waiting approval from Saudi Arabia,” he added.

Aydın also provided information on THY’s new project, “Capital to Capital,” explaining that with the implementation of the new project, direct flights from Ankara to Paris, London and Rome are expected to begin. THY will determine the destinations depending on demand.

Expressing his gratitude to THY’s management, Aydın however implied that the number of flights is still not enough. “Airlines are extremely important in connecting the world’s markets and more flights are crucial for development in sectors such as tourism as well as increasing the integration of Turkish businessmen with global markets,” he stressed, underlining that as competition in business becomes harder, the need for Turkish businessmen to compete under similar conditions becomes crucially important.

In addition, Aydın pointed out that Ankara has become much more integrated with neighboring cities with the construction of railroads and highways, which means that more people will want to fly via Ankara.

Meanwhile, THY Chief Executive Officer Hamdi Topçu expressed on Friday at another meeting that as the carrier increases the number of flights to Africa, commercial figures between the countries in Africa are expected to increase exponentially two to threefold.

NationalTurk

The order for at least 75 A320neo aircraft represents a breakthrough for the European jetmaker.

Pegasus currently operates aircraft built by Airbus’s arch-rival Boeing.

Confirming a Reuters report, Pegasus Chairman Ali Sabanci said he had initially considered buying 40 aircraft, but increased this to keep up with Turkey’s aviation growth .

“This … is the largest (order) in the history of Turkish civil aviation,” Sabanci told politicians and VIPs in the Istanbul carrier’s training centre.

The deal includes a firm order for 75 Airbus aircraft, including 58 fuel-saving A320neo aircraft and 17 A321neo jets. Those aircraft have a combined list price of $7.5 billion.

It also includes options for a further 25 aircraft. If all options are exercised, the deal’s value for all 100 aircraft could rise to $9.9 billion, based on official Airbus prices.
In practice, airlines win significant discounts for large orders.

Founded in 1990, Pegasus has grown its fleet from just two aircraft to more than 40 mostly Boeing BA.N 737-800s over the past two decades and serves 62 destinations in 26 countries.

The beautiful bay of Icmeler in Marmaris, Turkey. Certainly not only for your summerly pleasure !

The healing thermal water of Muğla’s İçmeler district in paradise-on earth- Marmaris is introduced into the tourism sector in Turkey. The water is believed to cure many women’s diseases as well as smooth wrinkles and celluloid, which is the purest nightmare of almost every woman.

NationalTurk published an interesting story on, how the officials  try to keep the southern Turkish touristic town of Marmaris a beacon of interest even in the winter season.

According to NationalTurk, thermal waters from the Aegean province of Muğla’s Marmaris town are believed to be blessed with healing powers for some woman’s diseases as well as smooth out wrinkles and celluloid problems. Works have been started to bring this healing thermal water into the Turkey’s growing tourism sector. The aim is to extend Marmaris’ tourism season to stretch throughout the year.

Already a popular destination in Turkey for Dutch, British and Russian tourists, Marmaris is exactly where Aegean see meets the Mediterranean in southern Turkey.

The healing water located in İçmeler and thought to be the beauty source of the demi-goddess Hamithea, will be given priority for tourism purposes.

Most shops in Marmaris close after the warm tourism season comes to an end, turning Marmaris into an abandoned place, Marmaris Tourism and Environment Volunteers Group Chair Filiz Ersan stated. Shop owners covered their windows with papers, but Marmaris, which is a world brand in tourism, did not deserve to see such things and should extend the season to the whole year in order to prevent them from occurring, she said.

According to Ersan, geophysics engineer Hakan Beyaz had prepared a thesis to bring the healing water into tourism use. “Fifteen academics including Beyaz and Oğuz Gündoğdu of Istanbul University have made research in the region and prepared a report in 2009. As a result of this research, it is stated in the report that this thermal water heals orthopedic, respiratory problems and some woman’s diseases,” she said.

But the report was shelved, Ersan said. “The hotels that become empty in winter will be full thanks to the Goddess Hemtihea Healing Water Center. The reports say this water makes people healthier. As it is known, the most important problem of artists are wrinkles and cellulite. The health center that will open in İçmeler will be rushed to by celebrities. Marmaris will be the holiday center instead of Bodrum.”

Marmaris Trade Chamber Chairman Mehmet Baysal said that Hemithea was a demi-goddess that made the ancient city of Kastabos in the Eren Mountain behind İçmeler.

“It was a city where festivities were organized in the ancient city. The healing water always existed there. Talks have been continuing with some organizations to rehabilitate the healing water,” he said.

Baysal said that when compared to European examples, İçmeler’s potential would be a new breath for tourism and that such a project would make great contributions to extend tourism to 12 months.

The touristic Istanbul sweetshop famous for its tasty profiteroles and a symbol to Istanbul’s Beyoglu,İnci Patisserie(Pastanesi), closed.

‘ İnci Patisserie [Pastanesi]’s place is here, in Beyoğlu. Shall we lose the court case, we do not intend to open anywhere else,’ manager Musa Ateş, who has been working at the shop on İstiklal Avenue for 51 years, had told one month ago.

According to NationalTurk News,the fate of the historical shop, which has been operating at its central location in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district for 67 years and retains its original atmosphere, was resting on a local court decision set to be made Feb. 9.

But the Turkish high court of appeal approved the eviction rule for the patisserie and the sweetshop is being emptied as of now, among protests from owners, workers and a group of activists.

Emekli Sandığı (Retirement Trust), the owner of the building where İnci Pastanesi is located, has decided to rent the entire building for 49 years to a single firm – identified by Ateş as Tamer İnşaat – which will also undertake work to restore the building. All shops renting space there have been asked to vacate the premises.

Though the sweetshop managed to keep the court from executing a decision, İnci then received a second notification, this time saying the patisserie had ‘ caused losses to the trust, ‘ according to Ateş. “We have regularly paid the rent for 67 years; I do not see what losses the trust refers to,” he said. “We will make use of all our rights, but will in the end respect the court decision, whatever it is.”

UNESCO has to do something for Old Pera

The world’s most ancient cities of Istanbul gona loot. The city’s cultural heritage Old Pera is being destroyed by council, UNESCO has to do something.

One Square Mile chose the old European diplomatic district of Pera, because it embodies Istanbul’s new confidence and energy, but also its complex history.

Those same buildings are now being renovated at a startling pace. Pera, or Beyoglu as it is called today, is bursting with new cultural and entrepreneurial life. New bars, new clubs, new galleries, new shops.

In part this is a reflection of Turkey’s tremendous economic performance over the past decade. This has given its people new wealth and new confidence – and they have begun exploring, and reviving, once neglected areas of the city.

Pera is now one of the most dynamic and fashionable districts in Europe. It is a joy to wander its steep, winding streets and make new discoveries. There is impressive diversity here too. Youth culture and artistic expression as adventurous as anywhere in Europe, but also the Islamic piety and heritage that is such a big part of Turkish life.

It is expected that Ban Ki-moon will visit the Syrian refugees’ camp in the Turkish cities bordering with Syria.

Also, Ban Ki-moon will meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, during which the Syrian crisis will be discussed.

Today the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey, who escaped the unrest in the country, is more than 130,000. A total of 10 tented camps for Syrian refugees have been operating in the cities of Hatay, Şanlıurfa, Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras.

Anti-government protests have continued in Syria for more than a year and half.

According to UN, the total number of victims of the conflict in Syria is nearing 30,000.

Over 230,000 have become refugees with around three million in need of humanitarian assistance. The Syrian authorities say they oppose the well-armed militants.

Meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin began in Istanbul.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Russian FM Sergey Lavrov are also attending the meeting at Prime Ministry office at the Dolmabahce Palace.

Author Selim İleri, Professor Şükrü Hanioğlu and musician Ahmet Hatipoğlu were honored with this year’s Presidential Grand Awards in Culture and Arts at a ceremony on Thursday in Ankara.

Selected by President Abdullah Gül, the Presidential Grand Awards in Culture and Arts are given in various fields of the arts each year to recognize and encourage contributions to Turkish culture by Turkish and/or foreign individuals and/or institutions.

The 2012 awards acknowledge achievements in the fields of literature, history, traditional music and archaeology.

İleri was deemed worthy of the award for “serving as a bridge between the traditional and new through his works … in which he blends his love for literature with his passion for İstanbul,” according to the award statement. Hanioğlu, a professor of Ottoman history, was selected for “developing an original account of history that carries Turkish history to a universal level,” while Hatipoğlu, a performer of classical Turkish music and Sufi music, was honored for “enriching Sufi and classical Turkish music with his original performance style” and thus helping these genres gain wider recognition. The Zeugma Museum was deemed deserving of an award for “exhibiting Turkey’s archaeological wealth on a global level.”

Speaking at Thursday’s ceremony, President Gül said cultural and artistic activities play a crucial part in the improvement of a country and added that “achievements in those fields never remain local” but belong to the whole of humanity.

“I am very pleased to see that the importance of culture and art is being recognized more and more in Turkey,” the president added.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Gunay, Governor of Izmir Cahit Kirac and İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Aziz Kocaoğlu were also present in the expo.

In addition to this, candidate cities set up promotional stand in OECD. Besides, participants show a great deal of interest to Izmir stand.

SHOT LIST

Turkish stand
People visiting the stand
Meeting room
Representatives of the candidate cities
Minister Gunay and the delegation of Izmir

University’s rector Ramazan Abdulatipov presented Gunay the honorary degree in a ceremony held in Moscow.

Earlier, Gunay delivered a speech at the Russian Foreign Foreign Ministry Diplomacy Academy.

He said in 2011 nearly 3.5 million Russians visited Turkey, adding that the figure was only 650 thousand a decade ago.

“I believe that the most important aspect of tourism is the contributions it makes to peace. Tourism brings different cultures together. Tourism will be the founding sector of peace in the 21st century,” he said.

Athanassios N. Manos was promoted to General Manager of Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko on November 01. He first joined the Kempinski property in Bansko in May 2011 as Executive Assistant Manager, a similar post that he also held previously at the Sheraton Sofia Hotel Balkan combined with Sales and Marketing (2008 – 2011) and Operations (2007 – 2008) roles. Earlier in his career he has traveled the Balkans gaining experience as Director of Food & Beverage in luxury hotel groups in Croatia, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Greece.

Athanassios N. Manos holds a degree in hotel management from Advanced Hotel School of Rhodes and an MSc in hospitality management from Glasgow Caledonian University. Being a Greek national he speaks fluently English, Bulgarian, German and has fair knowledge of Croatian and Russian.

The previous General Manager of Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko, Mr. Orlando Stefani, has been appointed General Manager at Kempinski Grand Hotel Gelendzhik.

Hearth of Bulgaria; Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena

Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena is situated in the heart of Bulgaria, 2-hour driving distance from Sofia, at the famous ski resort Bansko.

The hotel has a perfect location for all the ski lovers: next-door to the Gondola station and is located in a peaceful surrounding, only 15 minutes walking distance from the old city and city center.

The hotel’s impeccable services include: VIP ski pass, limousine service and car-rental on request, Kids’ Club and baby-sitting, organized excursions, ski instructors, state-of-the-art ski room, hiking, rafting, horse-riding.

Speaking at the ceremony, Muğla Governor Fatih Şahin highlighted the importance of the facilities for the development of tourism in the province.

Among the participants of the opening event were Turkish Football Federation (TFF) President Yıldırım Demirören and Koç Holding Honorary President Rahmi Koç. The Bodrum Golf Club also houses tennis facilities.

The tea enjoyed in natural surroundings and the meal cooked outdoors tastes somehow better. In an ecological village, where no chemicals or technological devices are used in food production, you can experience the delicious aroma of Mediterranean cuisine. The Pastoral Valley Ecological Village in Muğla’s Fethiye district offers everything about village life we long for, in an attempt to promote an ecological lifestyle. Visitors to the village sit down to meals cooked outdoors and spend their days in the field picking tomatoes.

Ecotourism, which combines agriculture and tourism, offering a great opportunity for a vacation in nature, is attracting a great deal of attention. Guests at the organic agriculture village spend some of their time working in the field, with tourists who stay in the wooden houses permitted to pick their own organic products from the fields. Those who stay at Pastoral Valley also learn arts in the local workshops such as rug making, wood carving and how to prepare local dishes. As part of ecotourism, technological devices — including TVs, computers and cell phones — are not used in the village. Ahmet Kizen, who owns the place, says the food is cooked over wood fires rather than in gas ovens.

Cooking is also part of a guest’s duties. For this reason, tourists cook their own meals and bread. Local dishes that cannot be found in a regular restaurant are taught to tourists and prepared by them in the village. Ashley Cole from Canada, who selected the village for her vacation, says that she found it over the Internet. Noting that she stays in a stone house and wakes up to the sound of birds in the mornings, Cole says: “I love it here. I pick tomatoes and oranges. I also pick strawberries in the field. I will strongly recommend this to my friends when I get back to Canada. I do not like mass tourism places; it’s nice to have a quiet vacation and work in the field.”

The Patika Ecological Farm in the village of Faralya in Fethiye also offers a vacation in nature. At the farm owned by Çiğden and Erol Scott, visitors can experience growing fruits and vegetables and stay in stone houses.

The Kaya Guesthouse in Kayaköy offers a vacation for tourists who want to feel at home. The facility is run by Filiz Almalı, who offers all the comforts of home. At the entrance, you have to take off your shoes. The food is cooked over wood fires and the ingredients are organic. Almalı also says that visitors are allowed to pick grapes in the field.

Adriano Celentano will come out on stage of Verona’s Roman-era amphitheater which is better known as a the venue of the country’s biggest opera festival.

After nearly a decade in the shadows, the legendary Italian singer and actor Adriano Celentano will come out on stage of Verona’s Roman-era amphitheater which is better known as a the venue of the country’s biggest opera festival.

To emulate Audrey Hepburn in the classic film Roman Holiday will be slapped with hefty fines under a new law adopted by Rome city's council !

Eating a Roman gelato on the Spanish Steps, one of landmarks in beautiful Rome, sure is at the top of a list of things to do for many visitors in Rome, but it could land them with a €500 (£400) fine from Rome city council.

NationalTurk reports that Rome tourists who want to emulate Audrey Hepburn in the classic film Roman Holiday will be slapped with hefty fines under a new law adopted by Rome city’s council.

Under the new law, tourists are prohibited from food munching on streets of Rome .. eating pizza, sandwiches, panini or any other Italian snacks or other fast-food around many of the monuments and architectural treasures that very much define Rome in the ‘centro storico’ or historic centre of the Eternal City.

Rome Tourists : Beware of eating gelato in Rome you to be fined !

Fines will range from 25 euros up to 500 euros, in what one Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, described as a war against the sandwich.

“It is forbidden to encamp or erect makeshift shelters and stop to eat or drink in zones which have a particular historic or architectural value,” reads the ordinance adopted by Rome city council.

The law is intended to “guarantee the protection of areas of merit in the historic centre.” Similar bans have been adopted in Venice, where eating snacks on the street is prohibited in St Mark’s Square, as well as other touristic Italien cities Florence and Bologna.

“This is a way to re-educate people, especially tourists visiting Rome in awe about how to behave in this city. We’ve let standards fall,” says Viviana Di Capua, from an association of Rome residents who live in the historic centre of this beautiful Italian capital.

“At the moment tourists can do anything they like in this city. We need to restore respect. It’s just a first step – a lot more needs to be done,” she states.

Crazy Turks make crazy Barcelona vs Real Madrid game tickets offer

Barcelona vs Real Madrid, two Spanish giants will face eachother for 2012-2013 La Liga season’s first El Clasico on 7th October at sacred football temple Camp Nou. Crazy Turks made a mad offer to any Madridista who buys a ticket for Barcelona Real Madrid game. Fans can stay 2 nights for free for only the price of Barcelona Real Madrid game ticket, offered by World Travel Service WTS, a FIFA official tour operator partner.

The crazy offer by those crazy Turks ! Barcelona vs Real Madrid El Clasico game in Barcelona is a must see experience for all Madridista fans.  Now a collaboration from the renown travel agency WTS & FC Barcelona offers all football fans across the world free accomodation in Barcelona for 2 nights. If you book your FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid match ticket from World Travel Service (WTS), you can stay in Barcelona 2 nights for free! WTS is the FIFA official tour operator partner, best known for its FIFA World Cup 2010 tours in South Africa.

Sensational offer for Barcelona vs Real Madrid El Clasico from WTS : Real Madrid fans buy a ticket for El Clasico and stay for the ticket’s price 2 nights in Barcelona !

Barcelona vs Real Madrid will face off on the pitch of legendary Camp Nou on 7th October, and all Madridista can stay in Barcelona 2 days of their choosing from 6th to 9th October for the price of a Barcelona vs Real Madrid game ticket, if they book their FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid game ticket from WTS, World Travel Service.

WTS has been organizing El Clasico tours for 6 years now. But the travel agency’s tour services also include many other sports events.

Amazing ticket offer for Barcelona vs Real Madrid game for Madrid fans, from crazy Turks to crazy Madridista

The two Spanish football giants have already played each other twice in 2012-2013 season at Spanish Supercopa, with Barcelona winning the first leg 3-2 at Camp Nou before Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid took the two-legged tie on away goals after a 2-1 victory at the Bernabeu in Madrid.

Barcelona are current leaders at La Liga with 18 points from 6 matches, while Real Madrid made a mediocre start to La Liga season with one defeat and 2 draws and 2 wins from 6 games.

Barcelona vs Real Madrid La Liga game tickets are already on the sale and time ticks against anyone who are too late to purchase a Barcelona Real Madrid game ticket with WTS offering Barcelona Real Madrid tickets with an amazing and even borderline crazy offer.

Click for Details for Barcelona vs Real Madrid game tickets on 7th October and the amazing offer for a 2 night free stay in Barcelona at WTS homepage !

The Seychelles Trade and Investment Minister Pierre Laporte pointing out big opportunities in places like hotels and off shores in the islands said : “We can make a good investment project by joining forces with Turkish companies and creating synergy.”

The Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) is aiming to increase tendency to Seychelles known for its islands and holiday resorts. In this regard, Pierre Laporte and Investment Manager Sherin Renaud are hosted in the investment forum. In his address Laporte underlined that the Seychelles has become a country of interest to invest in. “We try to carry out activities to encourage the enterprisers by making consensus in 2012. These activities will be increased towards the end of the year.”

TUSKON President Rizanur Meral said the Seychelles provides opportunities with their liberal economies. Stating that activities for the construction of free trade zones in the country has increased in the country, Rizanur Meral continued: “ This region opens the way for hotels, tour operators, off-shore companies and marine and agricultural products as well as petroleum products. At present, Turkey makes 23 billion dollars from tourism. Our firms are quite experienced in this field. Look at Aydeniz Group of Companies General Manager Firat Aydeniz establised a resort in Maldives. We hope Aydeniz and his friends see the opportunities in the Seychelles as well.”

Adding that Africa is one of the important regions for Turkey, Meral indicated “The Seychelles here is an openning gate and a springboard.

At the end of the forum, a partnership agreement has been signed between TUSKON and the Seychelles which has over 115 islands.

The district, only three hours away from İstanbul, has a population of 6,000 people. It is located near the Köroğlu and Aladağ mountains. It contains a man-made lake, Lake Seben, completed in 2010 and filled with melting runoff snow from the mountains. In addition to its lake, Seben has plateaus, historic caves and hot springs that make it an undiscovered haven for alternative tourism.

The district has a mild climate due to its location close to sea level. The district’s climate makes the production of various fruits and vegetables such as apples, nuts, peaches, tomatoes, corn and grapes possible. In some villages, such as Korucuk and Kızıl, villagers are involved in animal husbandry.

Seben District Governor Alper Balcı said the district’s 14 plateaus and lake await tourists and investors.

“We opened an almost 24-kilometer-long road around the lake. We expect guests to come here from İstanbul and Ankara for camping, mountain biking, trekking and weekend excursions,” he told Sunday’s Zaman.

There is ongoing work around the lake to prepare the area for tours and excursions in the fall.

Balcı said some businessmen want to invest in the city by constructing campsites for football teams and tourist facilities.

“We are trying to introduce the beauty of our district to Turkey and the world. We are calling on investors who have experience in mountain, plateau and winter tourism to discover the beauty of Seben,” said Balcı.

Metin Arıkoğlu, an investor who builds cabins in the district and runs a restaurant, said there are efforts to make Seben an alternative tourism resort for those tired of city life and in search of clean air, organic food and beautiful scenery.

Arıkoğlu said he has started work on six cabins in Seben because he thinks no sufficient investment has been made in the city to meet accommodation needs.

“The construction of these cabins is almost over. There are many secret valleys and canyons in the region where these cabins are located for those who want to go trekking and mountaineering,” he said.

There are also dozens of natural water resources in Seben; most of the city is covered with forests.

Just next to Lake Seben is the Aladağlar Scouting Camp. Officials from the Scouting Federation say they offer training in canoeing and rowing.

Cave houses also await discovery

One of the undiscovered assets of Seben is its cave houses, whose history dates back 1,000 years. The cave houses are three kilometers away from Bolu, the provincial capital, next to the village of Solaklar. They are four-storey structures that were constructed in soft caves. These caves, some of which are over 3,000 years old, dominate the valley.

Other cave houses near the villages of Muslar, Çeltikder and Yuva were constructed by Phrygians to protect against enemy attacks. The writing on the walls, in Greek, and signs of the cross show that the caves were used during Roman and Byzantine times.

District Governor Balcı said European tourists have paid visits to see these historical sites, but most Turkish tourists are unaware of the existence of Seben’s historical assets.

He said pathway and steel staircase projects to facilitate access to the cave houses have been completed.

Balcı also explained that the cave houses in Muslar and Solaklar had a strategic importance for the Ottoman Empire as he noted: “When Bayezid I was defeated by Timur in the Battle of Ankara, he hid his son, Mehmet Çelebi, in these caves. Timur sent his soldiers to capture Mehmet Çelebi, who repelled the soldiers of Timur thanks to the defense capability of the cave houses. These are places which worked in our favor in history.”

Balcı also added that renowned historian Halil İnalcık had conducted research in light of this information and confirmed that Seben has hosted several Anatolian civilizations.

“We call on everyone to reunite with history, the greenery, water and plateaus of Seben,” he said.

The city was a residential area during the era of the Hittites due to its agricultural fertility and abundance of rivers. Historical records also suggest that the Phrygians, who settled in Anatolia after they crossed the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, are among the first inhabitants of this region. The cave houses, known by locals as “homes of non-Muslims,” were built during the era of the Phrygians. The region was inhabited by the Romans and then the Byzantines after the Phrygians.

But the repertoire of state theaters — which are under the direction of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism – is to come under stricter supervision from the ministry. “We will keep our theater houses, but we will run them in a more careful and productive way,” Minister of Culture and Tourism Eruğrul Günay has said.

Some plays staged by state-owned theaters in the past have been criticized for failing to pay due respect to audience sensitivities, causing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to announce in April that the government planned to privatize state-run theaters. This announcement has meant increased caution on the part of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in terms of the scripts it allows to be staged. “We are conducting a serious review of our repertoire. I’ll also have a look at it in the following days,” Günay said, speaking to Today’s Zaman, accompanying the minister during his visit to Bitlis and Van on Tuesday.

Noting that the government has always taken up the issue of privatization of state-run theaters in the context of autonomy and liberalization, Günay said, “If we are, as the Turkish state, allocating financial resources to art, then art should be performed for the sake of the people, and not for the sake of art.” According to the minister, a state-funded play should also have a didactic, lyric and epic character to it, while at the same time promoting peace and not sowing seeds of hatred among people and being a valuable piece of literature. “That’s all we are after,” Günay stated.

One of main reasons for the government canceling plans to privatize state-run theaters is probably that state ownership keeps ticket prices low — as little as TL 5. In some years, up to 1 million people attend plays presented by such theaters free of charge. “It’s not possible to do this with private theaters,” the minister noted.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has been working on a new draft law since 2009 concerning state theaters, aiming to increase their productivity on a performance-based model. “When the project develops into a concrete form, I’ll share it with the public,” Günay said.

But autonomy in the selection of plays to be staged and in their management is an area in which the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and those involved in state theater disagree. While actors, directors and others involved in the staging of plays are generally of the opinion that there should be no bureaucratic interference, the government insists on having a say. “If it’s the state which gives the money, then no absolute autonomy is possible,” the minister remarked. However, he went on to say, “Theater is one of the areas where state intervention is minimal,” noting that it is an artistic committee, largely composed of actors, that finally decides which plays will be staged.

High cost has been another issue in the discussion surrounding state-funded theaters. In a debate that took place in Parliament in May, Ayşenur İslam of the AK Party argued that private theaters and film projects contributed in a much greater way to cultural activities than state theaters. “The state spent 40 times more last year [on state theater performances] than if it chose instead to give financial support to private theaters for the same number of theatrical performances,” İslam said.

In 2011, the General Directorate of State Theaters — with a budget of TL 140 million, excluding box office revenue — staged 5,800 theatrical performances, whereas the 162 private theaters, which received financial support of TL 3.5 million from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, staged nearly 4,000 performances.

Le Dune Forte Village Resort in Sardinia

Are you a high-end traveler, then Italy’s Sardinia island is where it’s at for ultra-expensive luxury hotels. The recent report of Luxury-Hotels.com, a luxury-hotel booking site, ranked the world’s priciest luxury hotels.

NationalTurk online newspaper reports that Sardinia, Italy, is home to five of the top 11 expensive luxury hotels. Nations openly absent from the list of the world’s most expensive hotels: France, England, the United States and the entire Caribbean region fail to make into the list. Only hotels with a minimum of 20 rooms were considered in the top 10 list of most expensive hotels of the world.

The world’s most expensive hotel is Le Dune, Forte Village Resort in Sardinia, with an average rate this summer of $2,539 per night. For a standard double room.

It’s located in Santa Margherita di Pula, a seaside resort along Sardinia’s southern coast. Le Dune was significantly more expensive than the runners-up, the Royal Mansour in Marrakech, Morocco, and the Hotel Pitrizza in Sardinia’s Porto Cervo.

There, average rooms are going for $2,060 and $2,041 per night, respectively, this summer. Only hotels with a minimum of 20 rooms were considered.

The rankings are based on the hotel’s average rates for a standard double room, June to August 2012. The dollar figures reflect the minimum amount a visitor had to spend to stay at a particular hotel.

Sardinia is a Mediterranean island accessed by air and ferry from Italian mainland also from Cote d’Azur. July and August are the high season, which is likely some of the driving force behind the exceptionally high luxury hotel rates. Consider visiting in May or September for lower prices, fewer crowds and still-lovely weather.

Most expensive hotels of the world list 2012 :

Rank Hotel Location Avg. rate/ night

1. Le Dune, Forte Village Resort Sardinia, Italy $2,539

2. Royal Mansour Marrakech, Morocco $2,060

3. Hotel Pitrizza Sardinia, Italy $2,041

4. Villa del Parco Sardinia, Italy $2,031

5. Amankora & Spa Paro, Bhutan $1,910

6. Hotel Cala di Volpe Sardinia, Italy $1,904

7. Hotel Romazzino Sardinia, Italy $1,850

8. Maia Luxury Resort and Spa Anse Louis, Seychelles $1,692

9. Southern Ocean Lodge Kangaroo Island, Australia $1,665

10. Lizard Island Great Barrier Reef, Australia $1,651

11. Song Saa Private Island Preah Sihanouk, Cambodia $1,649

Associate Professor Murat Durukan from Mersin University’s department of archeology and Adana University for Science and Technology Secretary-General Osman Arık met with Kazım Özgan, the district mayor of Kozan, Adana province, to inform him about the excavations that will be carried out in Anavarza.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has given permission for the dig to commence, while experts from the Adana Archeology Museum and Mersin University’s department of archeology will participate in the digs.

“The ancient city of Anavarza, which is similar to İzmir’s Ephesus, is a magnificent city with a great history,” said Durukan.

Durukan added that one of the two amphitheaters, open-air venues used for entertainment, in Anatolia is located in Anavarza.

Theaters, churches, shrines, waterways, city walls, a tower and mosaics are among the historical remains the experts expect to discover during the excavation.

“People who are going to participate in the digs also aim to contribute to the process which will make the ancient city an important tourism destination like Aspendos, Ephesus and Bergama,” said Durukan.

An inauguration ceremony was held on Friday with Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay in attendance. Speaking at the ceremony, Günay said the museum is an Eid gift to Aydın residents.

“The museum was slated to open in October, but I wanted it be opened before Eid,” Günay said, adding that the new museum is among the top 10 museums in the country. Officials hope the new archeology museum will attract many visitors during the three-day holiday.

Construction began on the new museum in 2000 but was interrupted by many delays, until recently Günay pushed for its completion. The tender for the construction of the museum was held last year, and work was completed very recently.
Aydın Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Nuri Aktakka said around 3,000 historical artifacts are on display in the 2,500-square-meter museum. “Most of the artifacts were discovered at the Tralleis, Magnesia, Alinda, Nysa, Alabanda and Ortasia historical sites in Turkey. We hope to increase the number of artifacts in the museum in the future. We have many historical sites in Aydın, and excavations are under way to discover more artifacts,” he said.

Aktaka also said 11,000 archeological and 45,000 numismatic and 4,000 ethnographic artifacts are currently registered at the museum and they will be on display by turns.

The museum cost TL 8 million, Aktakka further added.

It is the third time that a religious service has been held at the monastery in the history of the Turkish Republic. Wednesday’s event saw much less participation compared to the previous two years, with many citing the economic crisis that has hit Greece hard as the primary reason. Some 300 Orthodox Christians attended the service.

Since 2010, the Turkish government has allowed a church service to be held there once a year in a gradual loosening of restrictions on religious expression. The service was officiated by Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I — as in the past two years.

Following the religious ceremony, he addressed participants in Greek and then in Turkish, speaking on the importance of the occasion and delivering messages of peace. He expressed his joy at being able to gather for Divine Liturgy with other believers in a sincere atmosphere for the third time at Sümela Monastery, which, he said, is considered one of the most important places of worship of the Virgin Mary.

Bartholomew noted that visiting Sümela is a holy experience for believers of all faiths and thanked the Turkish authorities for opening it up to religious services once again. He added: “We grew up remembering this place of worship, which we couldn’t reach for years, and listening to stories about it, and we tried to be happy praying away from it. Thank God that this hope of ours came true and the Lord God destined us to be here. We [the Greek Orthodox] thank our government, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of European Union Affairs, the Maçka Municipality and the people of Maçka.”

Bartholomew also noted that all three services held at the monastery have coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and said: “In this sense, this coincidence indicates that Muslims and Christians, who have worshiped one common Creator for hundreds of centuries even though they do it in different ways, live together. Building a monastery on this mountain, hundreds of meters high, … wouldn’t be possible without surrendering to God, loving God with one’s body and soul and, of course, without God’s consent.”

The Greek Orthodox patriarch also highlighted that all must be free to carry out their religious requirements and yet humanity still suffers from violence between believers of different faiths. “Here on this hill where this historically and religiously rich Sümela Monastery, which is consigned to us, is located, let us all pray together for the peace of humanity. Let us work more for the peace of humanity and our country that we dream of, let us meet more and let us get to know each other more,” he said.