Miliband Puts Weight of UK Behind Turkey’s Accession into the EU

06/11/2009 by sblb

British foreign secretary David Miliband has put his weight behind Turkey’s EU bid to become a full member of the European Union, while visiting the country.

"Turkish accession to the European Union will be a tremendous benefit to Ankara and to the region," he said.

At a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara, Miliband called for a quick settlement to the Cyprus issue, a major obstacle in Turkey’s EU membership bid, according to the Anatolia news agency.

As well as the EU issue Miliband reportedly discussed UK/Turkish relations and regional developments whilst meeting with his opposite number and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey’s accession negotiations began in 2005, but have not progressed as well as one would have hoped. This is beginning to change according to Miliband:

"I actually think that… there is more commitment now to the fact that we have to honor our side of the bargain… than there was six months ago," he said in an interview with Hurriyet Daily News.

In the same interview Miliband also said that Turkey should take "brave steps" towards the European community, despite reports that they are moving away from the west with their foreign policy agenda. Both Turkey and the EU should make brave decisions and fulfil their commitments he said, including a fair accession process for Turkey from the Union.

He noted the membership negotiations were moving at a slower pace than either Turkey or Britain would like to see, adding that Britain "is committed to an open process with Turkey and the process has been kept open."

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Turkey and Syria Cooperation on Tourism to generate Massive Growth in Syrian Tourism

05/11/2009 by sblb

Turkey’s tourism growth has been among the most impressive in the world over the last few years. In fact it has been so impressive that Syria’s tourist board has sought the help of their Turkish counterparts in marketing Syria to the world’s tourists.

Before 2000 Syria and Turkey did not have very good relations, but this has gradually changed since. In August this year, the tourism ministers from both countries met in Lataka to discuss their cooperation with regards tourism.

The biggest step in this cooperation was the recent lifting of visa restrictions on travel between the two countries. If the legislation can be fully implemented, tourists to Turkey can visit Syria as well, without the need of getting a separate visa. And of course, the opposite is true of tourists to Syria who want to visit Turkey.

Turkish Association of Travel Agents (TÜRSAB) Vice President Çetin Gücün noted that they are trying to complete the cooperation project in time for the 2010 tourism season, he said:

"Syria proposed that the two countries should be jointly promoted and marketed in the field of tourism. They suggested that joint destinations should identified. After the tourism ministers of the two countries shook hands, TÜRSAB’s research and development department started to work on it. These two countries will be promoted together in the Far East, North and South America and Africa. We are still working on this.

"Combined tour programs are being prepared for the two countries. For tourists coming from remote destinations, visiting a single country is not enough. They are eager to visit more than one country. There are successful implementations of this policy. If we manage to put in place a similar cooperation with Syria, the two countries’ market share in tourism will increase exponentially. I believe this project will be very successful."

The visa restrictions alone have had a massive impact on tourism to Syria, from Turkey and from around the world. In 2008 Syria received under 500,000 Turkish tourists, and a further 324,000 turks visited Syria in the first half of this year; before the visa restriction was lifted. Since the need for a visa was removed the number has risen to 100,000 visitors per month.

In 2010 it is estimated that Syria will receive 1 million Turkish tourists, compared to 20,000 in 1990. Further figures from the tourism ministers revealed a 20% increase in Syrian visits to Turkey in 2008, which is expected to rise to a growth of 50% this year.

If the full cooperation can be implemented, visitors will be allowed to visit Syria through Turkey from third countries, using the airports at Adana and Hatay. Because of this cooperation Syria is expected to attract 6 million tourists in 2010, compared to 1.2million in the entire period of strained relations with Turkey.

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Saudi Arabian Minister Meets with Turkish President – likely to Discuss Increasing Trade

30/10/2009 by sblb

Turkish President Abdullah Gül received Saudi Arabia’s minister of state in Ankara on Friday.

Gül and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Nezar Obeid Medani had a closed-door meeting at the Çankaya Presidential Palace. This is in return for a visit to Saudi Arabia by Gül in February.

Relations between the two countries — mutual respect, dialogue, joint history and cultural values says Gül – have been building now for several years.

Trade between Saudi Arabia and Turkey is currently in the region of $5.5billion, according to the Turkish President speaking at the meeting in February. At the time he also said that the plan is to increase trade between the two nations to $13billion by 2010.

Plans to increase trade will no doubt be one of the things discussed at the “closed door” meeting today. But the closed door suggests that the pair will also be discussing more delicate matters, such as the current tension between Turkey and Israel.

Turkey property is very popular among Saudi Arabian lifestyle buyers and investors. We will certainly be watching very closely to see what kind of measures are proposed to increase trade between the two nations, and what, if any effect this will have on potentially increasing the popularity of Turkey as a destination for Saudi Arabian property buyers.

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Turkish Tourism Smashing Growth Targets in 2009

29/10/2009 by sblb

Turkey received 18,694,028 visitors in the first 8 months of 2009, an increase of 1.1% on the same period last year.

Heavy investment in the tourism sector, increased sophistication in its tourism brand, and the good value of the Turkish Lira for foreign visitors have all contributed to this success.

PricewaterhouseCoopers anticipates that Turkey’s tourism sector will expand by 12.1% between 2010 and 2013, and tourism is expected to hit 33million by 2013.

British tourism to Istanbul alone has grown 23% in the first 8 months of this year, compared to a growth of 2.4% in tourism to Istanbul from around the world. Throughout Turkey British tourism has increased 11% on a year on year basis.

Turkey is one of the most popular holiday destinations for the British market, with the Mugla region – home to tourism centres Bodrum, Marmaris and Fethiye – proving to be the most popular region with Brits, who make up nearly half of all visitors to the region. Mind you, its stunning natural beauty, temperate climate, plentiful activities, historical sites, and excellent resorts and infrastructure, make Mugla one of the hotspots in Turkish tourism as a whole.

On top of that, Istanbul is the European capital of culture for 2010. This has seen massive investment in restoring the city’s important cultural and historical sites, including: the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Ataturk Cultural Centre, and other historic monuments.

Istanbul will also host a plethora of arts and cultural events across the visual arts, music and opera, performing arts, literature, cinema, museums and traditional arts.

Mr. Ertugrul Gunay, Turkey’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, says: “We are delighted with Turkey’s tourism successes and the continued expansion in visitor numbers to Turkey despite the economic downturn. Looking ahead, we’re confident that Turkey’s tourism industry is poised for even further growth. We’re also very excited to be host to Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture, showcasing the city as an international capital of culture and art.”

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Tourism From Middle East to Turkey Part III: Kuwait

24/10/2009 by sblb

Turkey is becoming one of the world’s most popular tourism destinations. This is understandable given the vastness of the countries cultures, benefits, climates, varied locations and differing climates — something for everyone you could say.

Because of its predominantly Muslim ethnic make-up, Turkey is understandably a very popular destination with those travelling abroad from within the middle east for cultural and activity based holidays. We will be looking in detail at how this market has matured, how accessibility has improved, how flights have gotten more affordable and much more on a country by country basis.

Part III Kuwait

Kuwait is one of the wealthiest nations in the world due to its vast oil reserves. So obviously, travel abroad is very popular from Kuwait. Turkey, being a predominantly Muslim destination with a multitude of different climates and landscapes is one of the top destinations.

Flights from Kuwait have increased throughout the year, with Jazeera airways becoming the first low cost carrier to offer direct non-stop flights to the popular Turkish resort town of Antalya from June this year.

"Antalya is a breathtaking coastal city that provides an ideal setting for those who want a change of scenery and a relaxing holiday not very far from the Gulf," said Jazeera Airways’ chief commercial officer Steven Greenway.

Flights from Kuwait to Turkey have been increasing in volume since the late 90s, and this growth obviously intensified during the air-travel boom brought about by the advance of the budget airline.

According to Skyscanner the only direct flights currently available from Kuwait are into Istanbul, Ataturk or Sabiha at a price of around 646 Turkish Lira (£270approx.). However, indirect flights are available to destinations throughout Turkey. Below is an incomplete list of airlines currently servicing the Kuwait to Turkey routes:

Turkish Airlines (Only carrier offering direct flights)

  • GulfAir
  • Qatar Airways
  • Emirates
  • EgyptAir
  • Kuwait Airways
  • Singapore Airlines
  • AtlasJet

Another very popular route from the Middle East to Turkey, the only popular tourism destination in Europe (per se) with a predominantly Muslim population. Again, there are literally thousands of flights on offer throughout the year, and probably serviced by many more airlines, but this is a snapshot of travel between Kuwait and Turkey.

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Turkish Airlines to Boost Medical Tourism with 25% Discount on Fares

22/10/2009 by sblb

Turkey’s national airline is to offer a 25% discount to people who are flying into the country to receive medical treatment. This is likely to be a massive boost to Turkey’s medical tourism industry.

Medical tourism is currently the fastest growing sector in the travel and tourism industry. The name comes from people in developed countries like Britain and the US, travelling to developing nations with good healthcare facilities for huge savings on cosmetic surgery, which is massively expensive in their own countries. However, the name also applies to wealthy people in countries with poor medical services for essential treatments.

Obviously medical tourists play the balancing act; trying to find a country where they can get the surgery or treatment done at a good price, but also get the best treatment in the best medical facilities they can afford.

Turkey has some of the finest medical facilities in the world, including 32 medical centres accredited by Joint Commission International, or JCI. Turkey is also 70-95% cheaper than the United States for medical procedures.

The problem is that none of this is well known: Britain’s tend to favour the US for treatment, or ex British colonies like India and Malaysia where the medical model is based on the NHS. Americans favour Latin American countries with first rate healthcare, like Costa Rica, which disbanded its military in the 80’s and put the money into improving the education and health sectors.

The Turkish government, with the help of the national airline is undoubtedly trying to increase exposure of its world class medical facilities to the US and UK medical tourism markets. The 25% discount on flights will increase Turkey’s ability to compete with some of the cheaper destinations like India.

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Tourism from Middle East to Turkey Part II: UAE

16/10/2009 by sblb

Turkey is becoming one of the world’s most popular tourism destinations. This is understandable given the vastness of the countries cultures, benefits, climates, varied locations and differing climates — something for everyone you could say.

Because of its predominantly Muslim ethnic make-up, Turkey is understandably a very popular destination with those travelling abroad from within the middle east for cultural and activity based holidays. We will be looking in detail at how this market has matured, how accessibility has improved, how flights have gotten more affordable and much more on a country by country basis.

Part II: United Arab Emirates

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Turkey and Armenia Accord: Signed but not Sealed

15/10/2009 by sblb

As some of you will know Turkey and Armenia signed the accords that have been worked so hard on over the last few months. The accords will see relations normalised between the pair, the border reopened, and potentially even trade between the two further down the line.

There is still a hurdle to this though: as yet the deal must still be ratified by both parliaments, and this carries problems.

On one side: Armenia’s Diaspora, who were forced out of their country by Ottoman troops, and others inside Armenia think that Turkey should acknowledge that this was genocide. Turkey is unwilling to do this because people died on both sides.

On the other, Turkey’s parliament will be unable to ratify the accords unless significant progress can be made in the peace process between Armenia and Turkey allied Azerbaijan.

Turkey’s problem is perhaps the lesser of the two. Armenia and Azerbaijan are scheduled to meet in the near future, and Turkey, who will want to ratify the accord with Armenia to push its EU bid forward, is its own judge of what significant progress is — possibly the meeting itself will be deemed significant progress sufficient to allow ratification of the accord with Armenia.

Turkey really wants to join the EU, it has been a long hard slog (over 20 years since it was first mentioned for Turkey to join the EU) to get as far as they have. Turkey’s poor relations with its various neighbours have been a cloud hanging over its EU bid.

This cloud has all but been blown away by the current administration, which now has only Greece to make peace with. That is the same Greece that has just elected a centre-left government, which may or may not make peace-making easier for Turkey.

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Tourism from Middle East to Turkey in Focus Part I: Qatar

09/10/2009 by sblb

Turkey is becoming one of the world’s most popular tourism destinations. This is understandable given the vastness of the countries cultures, benefits, climates, varied locations and differing climates — something for everyone you could say.

Because of its predominantly Muslim ethnic make-up, Turkey is understandably a very popular destination with those travelling abroad from within the middle east for cultural and activity based holidays. We will be looking in detail at how this market has matured, how accessibility has improved, how flights have gotten more affordable and much more on a country by country basis.

Part I: Qatar

Qatar is almost made famous by the prestige of its national airline, Qatar Airways. When it comes to travelling to Turkey from Qatar, it has certainly gotten a lot easier, and a lot cheaper in recent months.

In June this year, the chairman of the Qatar Civil Aviation General Authority Abdulaziz al-Nuaimi, met with his Turkish counterpart and agreed 18 new flights per week from Qatar to Turkey. This was 7 flights to Istanbul, 7 Flights per week to Ankara and 4 flights per week to Antalya.

In the last year many new airlines have opened many new routes from Qatar to Turkey, including many budget routes. Here are some airlines that service the route, there may be others but these are the ones we could find:

  • Turkish Airlines
  • Emirates
  • EgyptAir
  • GulfAir
  • Middle East Airways (MEA)

All in all it is a very popular route. For instance on Friday 23rd October, a search on SkyScanner reveals that there are 35 flights leaving Doha Airport in Qatar for Dalaman, and 24 flights coming back. That is just on 1 day. The same Skyscanner search shows that the cheapest return is around £400.

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Turkey Hopes to Sign Armenia Accords on Saturday

07/10/2009 by sblb

Turkey hopes to sign accords with Armenia on Saturday Reuters has revealed, ending the decades long feud between the two countries, and taking a massive step forward towards being accepted as a member of the European Union.

Armenia has been feuding with Turkey because of the thousands of Armenians killed at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Armenia says that Turkey should acknowledge the fact that this was genocide, while Turkey says that genocide is inaccurate because people were killed on both sides during the conflict.

Anyway, Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with Muslim ally Azerbaijan, then locked in a deadly conflict with Armenia backed ethnic Armenians.

The report of Saturday as the day the accords would be signed comes from two unnamed sources high in the Turkish government. Armenia’s Prime Minister has simply said that he hopes the accords will be signed soon; because the six-week deadline set when the accord was reached August 31 is nearing its end.

The agreement will see the opening of diplomatic ties, a common border, and historians investigating the killings during World War I. After the accords are signed they must be ratified by parliaments on both sides.

The major problems for the deal are the fact that Turkey is insisting that progress be made in repairing relations with Azerbaijan before the agreement is ratified. Armenia insists that this is a separate issue.

None the less Armenia and Azerbaijan are due to meet in Moldova on Thursday (tomorrow). While no major progress is expected it will be a step forward sufficient enough for the Turkish foreign minister to sign the accords.

Another hurdle: the deal has met with anger, mainly from the Armenian Diaspora, but also to a certain extent from Turks.

The deal is important to the Turkish government as part of their intention to become a major player and peacemaker in the region, which it cannot be whilst it is still embroiled in such a horrible long-lasting standoff. So from their side if the accords are signed they will likely be ratified provided the negotiations continue between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

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