Ziraat Bankasi Opens Branch in Jeddah
JEDDAH: With the opening of the branch of a leading Turkish bank in Jeddah, trade and commerce between Turkey and Saudi Arabia will reach new heights, said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan here on Saturday.Speaking at the opening ceremony of Ziraat Bankasi's first branch in Rowadah district, Erdogan said, “It will further enhance cooperation between Turkey and the Kingdom in the fields of development, agriculture and construction. It has added a new chapter in our ties with Saudi Arabia. It will also immensely help thousands of Turkish pilgrims who come to the Kingdom for Haj and Umrah,” he added.
A large number of Saudi businessmen, officials and Turkish community members witnessed the glittering opening ceremony and lauded Erdogan for his efforts to boost Saudi-Turkish ties.
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EAST HARTFORD, CT--(Marketwire - March 13, 2011) - Turkish Airlines (THY), the national carrier of Turkey, has again selected the International Aero Engines AG V2500 SelectOne™ engine to power its A320 family aircraft. IAE will deliver 10 firm engines in 2013.
PARIS — Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (Melco) of Japan, in its biggest-ever commercial satellite award, has bested its U.S. and European competitors to win a Turkish government contract to build two telecommunications satellites, Melco announced March 8.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Turkey has recently decided to implement INKSURE's machine readable taggant solution for the security of the country's museum and historical site entrance tickets. The Ministry will implement the solution on entry tickets and smart museum entry cards for the next six years. As of 1 January 2011, the cards include a high-security hot-stamped hologram and the tickets include a hologram label. This solution makes the tickets and cards extremely difficult to counterfeit, yet very easy to authenticate in the field. The hologram contains overt security features created by MTM Security, a Turkish hologram manufacturer and covert security features created by InkSure Technologies, an American machine-readable taggant technology manufacturer.
Turkey has finally broken its silence over the Egyptian crisis after major newspapers criticised the government for its inexplicable silence on the issue.
The head of Turkey's Housing Development Administration (TOKI) said on Saturday that his organization could build nearly 100,000 new houses in Venezuela. Commenting on Venezuela's calling on Turkey to extend support for housing projects after a recent flood disaster that left nearly 140,000 Venezuelans homeless, TOKI President Erdogan Bayraktar said his organization could take 10 to 100 contractors to Venezuela as a first step.
A growth of 17.2 percent is envisaged in public investments in 2011, an election year. Out of the TL47.9bn worth of public investments planned for 2011, TL16.7bn is to be carried out by local administrations.
While many tourism authorities agree that the financial crisis, still prevailing especially in Europe, continues to badly affect Turkish tourism, an 11 percent increase in the number of tourists visiting the southern city of Antalya in 2010 is a positive sign for sector representatives. 
Turkey is stepping up its role in Iraq, vying with Iran as a regional power. These powerful neighbors use investments and building projects to ensure long-term influence. The competition is heating up as the U.S. prepares to withdraw troops from Iraq by the end of next year. Northern Iraq is the staging ground for Turkey's bid for economic dominance, and the Marina restaurant in Irbil is the kind of place that businessmen come to make deals. The food is pricey, and the live entertainment is in Turkish, a sign of Turkey's growing role. In the central market, Turkish products are available in every shop stall. (A scene at shopping mall in Erbil) 
Turkey’s top four banks play a very prominent role in the sector. State-owned Ziraat and three private banks, Garanti, Is and Akbank, have the lyon’s share in assets, deposits and profits. 
Turkey’s central bank faces challenges in ensuring growth and inflows of foreign capital don’t threaten macroeconomic stability, and the bank’s success will feed into the country’s debt rating assessment, Fitch Ratings said. “One of the challenges the central bank faces is to reduce inflation and prevent the economy overheating in a challenging policy environment, including large capital inflows and low global interest rates,” Fitch analyst Edward Parker said.
Calgary, Canada- Valeura Energy Inc. (TSXV:VLE) says it has bought an interest in the Edirne exploration licence in Turkey's main natural gas producing region for $3.1 million, expanding its presence in the country. The Calgary-based company says it will own a 35 per cent interest in the licence, which covers land in the Thrace Basin, the main natural gas producing region of Turkey. It bought the stake from Edirne Enerji Petrol Arama Uretim Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, a wholly-owned affiliate of Australia's Otto Energy Ltd. The deal is expected to close around Dec. 22. 
