Muslim Cleric In Turkey Moonlights As A Rock Musician
Joe Parkinson, Wall Street Journal - PINARBASI, Turkey— Ahmet Tuzer's motto could be: I rock, therefore imam. By day, the 42-year old Muslim cleric chants the Azan—the Islamic call to prayer—from a small mosque in the coastal village of Pinarbasi, where he preaches to about 150 people. By night, he preaches the gospel of Led Zeppelin, singing about a different stairway to heaven with his four-piece rock band, FiRock, led by Mr. Tuzer and heavily tattooed metal guitarist Dogan Sakin. 
Clifton, NJ - Comodo, a leading Certificate Authority and Internet security organization, today announced that their Comodo Internet Security Premium (CIS) software earned a 100% protection score in the most recent evaluation period of AV-Test.org. Comodo made significant improvements to its false positive rate by decreasing the number of false detections of legitimate software as malware from nine to only two. Although six security products achieved a 100% protection rating, Comodo's Internet Security suite is the only software that is completely free to the end-user. 
Turkey has ranked as 53rd out of 177 countries and territories and scored 50, only slightly above the global average, according to a survey released on Tuesday by an international graft watchdog. Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index ranks more than four-fifths of countries in the Middle East below 50 on a scale where zero is a country perceived to be highly corrupt and 100 perceived to be very clean. Countries in the region scored an average 37, below the global average of 43.
The Directors of Marlborough Gallery are pleased to announce an exhibition of recent paintings by the artist Ahmet Güneştekin, who is from Turkey. The exhibition, featuring oil paintings with Güneştekin’s signature rich colors and detailed, interwoven brushstrokes, will open Tuesday November 26, 2013 and continue through January 4, 2014. Güneştekin creates powerful formal compositions as a means to convey a spiritual message. Aesthetically, his paintings are almost sculptural with their careful modulations of color and intricate, detailed layers of lines that cause the painted forms to appear to emerge from the canvas. 
The Houston Rockets entered the NBA 2013-14 season as one of the title favorites with the acquisition of superstar center Dwight Howard, but have started a pedestrian 6-4 record with chemistry issues hounding the team particularly the desire of center Omer Asik to get out of the team. It seems that the Rockets are giving in to the desire of Asik to be traded, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports who says that Houston has engaged in trade talks with multiple teams with the aim of getting an impact player in return. 
The Metro Atlanta Chamber announced Sharecare as the "2013 Emerging Company of the Year" at the 4th Annual Health IT Leadership Summit. Sharecare, founded by Dr. Mehmet Oz and Jeff Arnold, is an online health and wellness social engagement platform based out of Atlanta. More than 30 million people have used the interactive program. 
NORWICH – A spokesperson for Chobani addressed community rumors about layoffs at their corporate headquarters in Norwich and the New Berlin plant. Chobani’s spokesperson said less than ten people have been laid off at corporate headquarters. The Chobani spokesperson also said that the rumors about layoffs at the New Berlin factory and about plant closings are “completely false.” He said, “Actually, it is just the opposite. There will be new hires in the coming months.”
ANKARA — After a stunning decision to select a Chinese contender to build Turkey’s first long-range air and missile-defense system, Ankara has moved to keep the competition open to European and US bidders that came second and third, respectively. The Turkish government has asked the European and US bidders to extend the validity of their bids, a sign that the game is not yet over for these two. The fourth bidder, a Russian manufacturer, had been eliminated from the contest.
ISTANBUL–Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly accused the Western press of reporting “lies” that misrepresent Turkey. Now his government has decided to tell its own side of the story – reaching foreign audiences directly by setting up an English-language television channel. According to the spokesman of state broadcasting company, TRT, the English-language channel is the most expensive project in the state broadcasting company’s 50-year history, costing initially $250 million to set up, with offices opening in 30 countries including the U.S., and in European, Latin American and African countries. 
The Turkish International Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) on Tuesday awarded a $200,000 grant to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon at a reception and ceremony hosted by Turkey's ambassador to Washington Namik Tan. The grant will go towards the construction of a water tank for an elementary school construction project. “It is going to help us. We’re building a new school for our kids - Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. The grant is going to help us in the construction of this new school,” said Warm Springs Chief Joseph Moses at the Turkish Residence in Washington. 
The Pittsburgh-based parent of 104-store chain Vocelli Pizza has acquired Rockn’ Joe Coffeehouse and Bistro, a five-store chain in New Jersey, CEO Varol Ablak confirmed. Financials were not disclosed. The aim is to grow Rockn’ Joe via franchising. “We think we can do 10 to 15 stores the first year,” Ablak said. That includes one planned for downtown Pittsburgh by early 2014. Ablak launched Vocelli as Pizza Outlet in the late 1980s. The Vocelli name was adopted 10 years ago. In late 2009, he created Ablak Holdings, based in Green Tree. 
Turkish Airlines, recently voted Europe’s Best Airline at the 2013 Skytrax Passengers Choice Awards for the third consecutive year, is celebrating the third anniversary of its Washington, D.C. gateway this week on November 6.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek attended as guests of honor
