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Turkey's Tech Businesses Boom on the Bosporus

Image MUSLIM farmers do not keep pigs. This is as true of those who play at virtual agriculture as of those who fill physical food-troughs. So there are no pigs in the Arabic version of “Happy Farm”, published by Peak Games, a young firm based in Istanbul. For the same reason “Happy Farm” has no vineyards, and female farmhands wear the hijab. Local tastes matter. Peak Games has found rich soil. It already employs 200 people and has developers in Jordan and Saudi Arabia as well as Istanbul and Ankara. More than 35m people play its games at least once a month, many of them on Facebook. Half of the players are in Turkey; the rest are in the Middle East and north Africa. Rina Onur, one of its founders, says that she and her colleagues saw a gap in the online-games market that companies catering to Western tastes could not fill. So Peak Games offers people in Turkey and nearby countries games with a regional twist, like “Happy Farm”, as well as online versions of traditional amusements. Okey, a Turkish game played with tiles, is most popular.

itelligence AG Acquires Turkish SAP Consulting Company Elsys

Image ISTANBUL and BIELEFELD, Germany, July 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- itelligence AG, the world's leading SAP partner for the mid-market, is announcing its majority investment in Turkish SAP consulting company Elsys, which is based in Istanbul. itelligence AG is acquiring 60% in this SAP Gold Partner. This investment is part of itelligence's systematic growth strategy focusing on further international expansion and its growing service portfolio.

Elsys was founded in 2000 and employs around 180 staff. In 2011, it generated sales of around MEUR 11.5. Thanks to its own industry solutions based on SAP Business All in One and its in-depth expertise, especially in the automotive, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, textile, and pharmaceutical industries, Elsys has proven itself as the leading SAP consulting company in Turkey. Elsys's offering comprises the full lifecycle of an SAP solution with license sales, consulting, maintenance and application management services.

Herbert Vogel, CEO of itelligence AG, commented: "In Elsys, we have found one of Turkey's best SAP partners to further advance our internationalization. We are therefore filling a strategic "white spot", comprising not just the market in Turkey, but also the Black Sea region and the Middle East. Elsys's product offering and corporate culture are an excellent fit for us and I am looking forward to working together with them."

Norbert Rotter, CFO of itelligence AG, said: "itelligence's investment in Turkey means the company is breaking new economic and cultural ground in the bridge between Europe, Asia, and Africa. We have selected and planned this acquisition very thoroughly. We have had good business relations with Elsys for years and anticipate positive effects for our international customers, especially in Germany. We will also exploit the advantage that Germany is Turkey's biggest trading partner by far."

Sierra Nevada Corporation Announces Next Week's Dream Chaser Career Fairs

Image SPARKS, Nev., July 6, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Space Systems will host two career fairs next week hiring Engineers, Technicians and other essential program personnel to design and build its Dream Chaser Space System (DCSS) at its Louisville, CO headquarters. Dream Chaser is being developed as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Program to transport crew and critical cargo to and from low Earth orbit, including the International Space Station.

Azerbaijan's SOCAR Sees $17B Turkey Investments

BAKU, Azerbaijan -- Azerbaijan's state oil and gas company says it plans to invest up to $17 billion in energy projects in neighboring Turkey over the coming eight years. SOCAR vice president Suleyman Gasimov said Thursday that investments will include $5.5 billion on a new refinery and $800 million on a power station.
Another major, still-unconfirmed goal mentioned by Gasimov is the construction of the proposed Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline, which Azerbaijan hopes could be used to carry gas from its Shah Deniz offshore field to Europe. Under current plans, Azerbaijan would take a lead in the project, known as TANAP, and provide several billion dollars for its completion.

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