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Selcuk: Aegean Hot Spot

By Catherine Salter Bayar*
This historical valley on Turkey’s West Coast has more than its share of diverse cultural attractions – from centuries of wonders at Ephesus, a city founded by a mythical tribe of women warriors known as Amazons, embellished by King Croesus, liberated by Alexander the Great and nearly as important as Rome – to the tomb of Jesus’ favorite disciple and last home of the Virgin Mary, both sites of Christian pilgrimage, as well as a charming Ottoman village best known for its traditional pleasures of homemade wines and handmade lace.

February 15, 2008
Published in Tourism

Incentive and Congress Tourism Boosts In Turkey

By Müge Emirgil
Turkey’s tourism sector has undergone an accelerated rate of growth in the past three decades. In a sharp rise from the annual 500,000 visitors at the end of the 1970s, 2007 saw 24 million tourists visit the country (12 million of whom came from EU member states).

February 14, 2008
Published in Tourism

Istanbul's Most Revealing Market

By Anastasia M. Ashman*
I’m bouncing along in a stream of shoppers at a neighborhood pazar, or weekly general street market. Tented for protection from the hot midday sun, this narrow Istanbul road in a residential district called Ulus is lined with merchandise that wasn’t here a few hours ago and will disappear in a few more: rows and rows of olives in plastic tubs, stands of feta cheese, and wooden carts packed with squash straight from the farm.

February 14, 2008
Published in Tourism

Istanbul's Oldest Synagogue: Ahrida

By Büşra İpekçi
Jews, Greeks, Bulgarians, Armenians and Roma have all had a presence there and still inhabit the area in smaller numbers. Due to its formerly predominant Jewish population, Balat developed in a way that reflects Jewish architectural character.