Turkish Airlines (THY) has carried more than 30.3 million passengers in the first half of this year, its highest ever in a six-month period, according to a statement the airline released Tuesday.
The national flag carrier said that the total number of customers rose by 13.5 percent in June compared to the same month last year, reaching 5.7 million.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu warned the U.S. authorities Thursday that the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) members residing in the country would "poison the Turkish-American cooperation." Speaking at a panel called "July 15 Coup Attempt: A Year After" at the Turkish Heritage Organization via conference call, Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey was trying to clean the FETÖ factions that had infiltrated all institutions of the government, however, "the crime ring carries on activity through its schools, businesses and lobbying on global level."
Luxury smartphone manufacturer Vertu has gone into liquidation after its famously expensive handsets failed to capture the imagination of the rich and famous. The closure of the UK-based firm, which made alligator skin, gold and diamond-encrusted phones priced from £11,100, will result in the loss of 200 jobs. Vertu was founded by Finnish mobile giant Nokia in 1998 and launched its first luxury mobile phone in 2002, before it was sold in 2012 to private equity group EQT VI.
Luxury smartphone manufacturer Vertu has gone into liquidation after its famously expensive handsets failed to capture the imagination of the rich and famous. The closure of the UK-based firm, which made alligator skin, gold and diamond-encrusted phones priced from £11,100, will result in the loss of 200 jobs. Vertu was founded by Finnish mobile giant Nokia in 1998 and launched its first luxury mobile phone in 2002, before it was sold in 2012 to private equity group EQT VI. SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE: Display of Vertu's world's most expensive mobile phones at a showroom in Singapore 13 August 2004. Despite their hefty price and relatively limited functions, sleek handcrafted phones manufactured by Vertu, an independent unit of wireless communications giant Nokia, are becoming sought-after status symbols in Asia..AFP PHOTO/JIMIN LAI (Photo credit should read JIMIN LAI/AFP/Getty Images) Vertu is a good example of how money can’t buy you taste (Photo: Getty) The phones, which featured sapphire crystal screens and ruby bearings, were hand-assembled in its factories in Hampshire, and attracted celebrity fans including actress Gwyneth Paltrow (Vertu’s first customer), Jennifer Lopez and Madonna, reportedly. The company was sold again for £50m to Turkish businessman Hakan Uzan in March, who promised to help Vertu “realise its full potential”.
Uzan slashed the price of the firm’s non-customised models to between £4,000 and £7,000, but reports continued to circulate over its poor finances. Its manufacturing arm went into administration last month. VERTU’S MOST RIDICULOUS PHONE Vertu’s most expensive handset was the Signature Clous de Paris Red Gold, which featured 18 carat red gold, black sapphire keys and a £39,100 price tag. Uzan will retain the brand, design licences and technology, and intends to rebuild the company at a later date, a person close to the matter told the Financial Times. While aimed firmly at a luxury market, Vertu’s creations failed to attract much praise in technology circles. They originally ran Nokia’s Symbian operating system before switching to Google’s Android in 2013, and failed to support Bluetooth or GPS when they first launched.
The tastes of the rich and famous gradually shifted away from blingy mobiles and BlackBerries to iPhones in the late 2000s, which more often than not are the celebrity’s handset of choice. iPhones have become aspirational status symbols for people on all incomes, but those with flashier tastes could employ the services of businesses built around blinging up existing iPhones with diamonds, or creating 24 carat gold cases, rather than splash out on an expensive handset which will still require replacing every few years. - By Rhiannon Williams - inews.co.uk
Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/technology/luxury-phone-maker-vertu-bit-the-dust-because-the-rich-own-iphones/
Move over Indiana Jones — Archaeology has some fresh new faces. Metin I. Eren, Director of Archaeology and an Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the College of arts and Sciences, joined Kent State University in June. And while he may not be swinging across lava-filled gorges and duking it out with bad guys, he already has secured federal funding for his cutting-edge laboratory, where he’s quickly carving out a niche in his field.
July 12, 2017 – A year after the failed attempted military coup in Turkey that took place in the night of July 15, 2016, we are reminded about the universal value of a basic norm: in all modern democracies the military respects and abides by the principle of civilian rule. Any military uprising or coup against duly elected civilian authorities is treason. On July 12, 2107, the Global Policy Institute, (GPI), in cooperation with BAU International University, and the July 15 Foundation, a Turkish organization, held an event titled: The Failed Coup in Turkey: One Year Later Reflections by Turkish and American Experts and Eyewitnesses
Vahide Sevkatlioglu was willing to die. So was Ilhami Cil. They are two of the roughly 2,500 people who now carry the formal title "Gazi," or veteran, in Turkey after flooding the streets on July 15, 2016 to stop those trying to topple their government. For them, it was a mixture of duty and destiny; a unifying night for a country with a history of military coups. This was the night they said "enough." Even critics of the government made it clear they were relieved to see the coup fail. But the tumultuous months since have created a Turkey where democracy's definition depends on who you ask.
Turkish basketball forward Cedi Osman announced on Wednesday that he is leaving Anadolu Efes to join the roster of NBA heavyweights the Cleveland Cavaliers. Speaking to Turkish sports channel NTVSpor, Macedonian-born Osman, 22, said that he was thrilled to be able to play alongside some of the NBA’s hottest stars.
AA - As Turkey started a week-long series of events to mark the first anniversary of the July 15, 2016, coup attempt, TRT World, the country’s first English-language news channel, has published an exclusive book on the deadly putsch. The book -- "History and Memory: TRT World in the Face of July 15 Coup" -- deals with the coup’s background, nature plus its leading actors. It also describes the experiences of TRT World employees on the night of July 15 and the following morning.
Turkish American Judge Jay (Ceyhun) Karahan visited TCA headquarters in Washington, DC to speak with TCA Washington summer interns about public service, his career as a judge and attorney, and his experiences running for elected office. TCA summer interns also had the opportunity to ask questions and get advice about their own careers and future political ambitions.
Judge Karahan serves as the judge for Harris Country Criminal Court Number 8 in Houston, TX, a position he has held since 2003. Judge Karahan is the highest elected Turkish American official and is currently the only Turkish American currently serving in elected office.
(CNSNews.com) – A former U.S. ambassador to Turkey is urging the Trump administration not to consider swapping a Turkish businessman facing Iran sanctions-busting charges in the U.S. with an American pastor incarcerated in Turkey for nine months. The pastor is accused of having links to “terrorists.” While exchanging Turkish-Iranian financier Reza Zarrab for Protestant pastor Andrew Brunson may hold appeal for the administration, Eric Edelman wrote in a Washington Post column, “a trade would be a grave mistake.”
NEW HAVEN >> A new engineering report is paving the way for resolution of a partially completed mosque, even as another cease and desist order and then a notice to vacate adds to the large city file on the long-delayed project. The problem remains the height of the two minarets on the mosque at 531 Middletown Ave., which exceed what was approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals 19 months ago.
Istanbul Ready-Garment Exporters' Association (İHKİB), which provides 75 percent of Turkey's ready-to-wear export, has opened Turkish Trade Center in coordination with Turkish Exporter's Assembly (TİM) in New York in the region in the "ground zero" of the fashion world. The 4,000-square-foot showroom will operate at 10 East 34th Street in the heart of New York's garment district.
Turkey will find it "comforting" if the EU says it cannot be accepted as a member, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told the BBC. Speaking to HARDtalk's Zeinab Badawi, he said Turkey was "able to stand on its own two feet". He also denied the country had jailed 150 journalists, saying only two people with press cards were in prison. Meanwhile, Turkey extended the detention of the local director of Amnesty International and nine others. Idil Eser was detained on 5 July during a digital security and information management workshop, along with seven other rights activists and two foreign trainers. The 10 are accused of being members of an "armed terrorist organisation" - although Amnesty says it is unclear which one. Their detention has raised alarm internationally, increasing fears that freedom of expression is being suppressed under President Erdogan.
Former Turkish President Abdullah Gül on July 12 strictly ruled out any contact with the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen after the latter claimed in an interview that he had previously met with Gül at his residency in Pennsylvania.
