Istanbul Becomes a Star in World Congress Tourism
Istanbul, which ranked seventh in world congress tourism last year and sixth in Europe, has become an international convention destination, according to Murat Yalçıntaş, chairman of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, or ICOC. "By strengthening its position among the top 10 cities in world convention tourism, Istanbul should target to enter the top five in the next five years," said Yalçıntaş, who has also been the chairman of the Istanbul Convention and Visitors Bureau, or ICVB, since March 2006.

Career criminal Willie Sutton is credited with saying that he robbed banks, “because that’s where the money is,” and while Sutton later claimed to have never uttered that infamous line, he did say in his autobiography that criminals “go where the money is … and go there often.”
Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan picked up another international award Sunday, winning the prestigious Cannes Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize for his most recent work, “Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da” (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia).
Invest AD, an investment bank owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, is teaming up with a Japanese company to launch a $100 million buyout fund focused on Turkey.
Turkish politician and economist Kemal Derviş is the early frontrunner to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the International Monetary Fund.
The ATAA Board of Directors empowered a Nominations Committee, chaired by Ms. Lale Iskarpatyoti, a former ATAA VP, and served by President-Elect Ergun Kirlikovali, Past President Nurten Ural, Former President Tunca Iskir, and Former President and Founder Ulku Ulgur. All candidates were nominated and selected in strict accordance with the ATAA bylaws and procedures. Those candidates that were nominated expressed their voluntary and explicit agreement that the nomination of each was appropriate and that their candidacy met both the spirit and word of the ATAA charter, bylaws and mission. The Election Process was overseen by the Teller's Committee, which was approved by the Board of Directors.
Turkey's top aerospace company and the Sierra Nevada Corporation, or SNC, a United States’ satellite company owned by a Turkish American, have agreed to cooperate to jointly make satellites for Middle Eastern companies, officials from both firms told the Hürriyet Daily News on Wednesday.
A few months back, economists were openly debating whether fast-growing Turkey should be elevated into the elite club of ‘BRIC’ economies — Brazil, Russia, India and China — that are slated to dominate global growth over the next decades.
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said this week that the only way to end the drug violence plaguing his country is for the United States to legalize drugs.
A week ago, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Sharshenovich Atambayev arrived in Turkey for a two-day visit, meeting with top officials and attending the Turkey-Kyrgyzstan Trade and Investment Forum organised by Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists.
Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s second- biggest carmaker, was chosen to supply New York’s next fleet of yellow taxi cabs, a deal city officials valued at $1 billion over 10 years.
Heating up the campaign for the coming parliamentary elections, Turkey’s governing party on Wednesday unveiled a proposal to build a canal parallel to Istanbul’s Bosporus that would be longer than either the Panama or Suez canals.





