eBay is announcing the acquisition of Turkish auction marketplace GittiGidiyor. The deal follows eBay’s acquisition of a minority stake in the company in 2007. With the new investment, eBay now owns approximately 93% of the outstanding shares of GittiGidiyor. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Launched in, 2001, GittiGidiyor has more than 6.4 million registered users. GittoGidyor is essentially an eBay clone, but localized for the Turkish market. The business also includes a mandatory escrow service for payments between buyer and seller. GittiGidyor’s largest categories are Fashion and Consumer Electronics. In addition to eBay, the company previously raised capital from iLab Ventures, founded and led by Mustafa E. Say.

FOCUS Brands Inc., the owner of Carvel ice cream and Cinnabon, will add 50 locations this year to its fastest growing chain, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and expand into Turkey as the global recession recedes.

Atlanta-based FOCUS has signed a franchise agreement to add 40 Moe’s restaurants in Turkey over seven years, marking the brand’s first foray outside the U.S. and Canada, Mike Shattuck, president of FOCUS Brands International, said this week in an interview. The first of the Turkey locations will open in Istanbul’s Sapphire Tower in September, he said.

Moe’s, which serves “Homewrecker” burritos and quesadillas made to order with hand-chopped pico de gallo, will sell more franchise agreements in the first quarter of 2010 than it did all of last year, President Paul Damico said in an interview. Renewed access to financing and a rebound in same- store sales have helped fuel deals, he said.

“When the credit markets freeze up it’s very difficult to fund any kind of expansion if you’re a franchise owner,” Michael Schaefer, a consumer foodservice analyst for Chicago- based researcher Euromonitor Plc, said in an interview. “We’ve definitely seen that easing.”

Teaneck, NJ - After learning the secrets of Turkish cuisine, his dream was always to open a restaurant. He was a very talented and hard working man who looked for a bright future for himself. After working eight years in various Turkish restaurants as a head cook, he changed his career from the culinary arts to the sea. Being a sailor was joyful job as a young man and he worked 10 years from port to port in different countries. He traveled to over 40 countries, even though he did not like any of them, and experienced diverse cultures, but he was still seeking a challenge.

As the Internet continues to become an ever-bigger part of our lives, security concerns are increasing. The world’s second biggest Internet security company belongs to a Turkish businessman from Hatay, Melih Abdulhayoğlu. He is the owner of Comodo, which has 700 employees in five offices around the world and an annual growth rate of 50%.  We are proud and pleased that his first interview in the Turkish media has been given to TURKOFAMERICA.