Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at June 20th, 2007

Turkey’s Oyak Bank, a subsidiary of the Armed Forces Pension Fund (OYAK), released a statement on Tuesday saying it will be bought by Dutch bank ING for $2.67 billion (2 billion euros).The transaction, which remains subject to approval by Turkish authorities, will be conducted in cash, Oyak Bank said. The name of Oyak Bank will be changed within one year of the sale, it added. The sale of the bank had been on the agenda for some time. The OYAK Group has participated in the privatizations of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TÜPRAŞ), Turk Telekom and Ereğli Steel & Iron Corporation (Erdemir), which it (more…)

Posted by meb at June 20th, 2007

After having enjoyed stability for a long period — some five years — Turkey is apparently going through a tunnel of uncertainty now, largely stemming from the political noise that has been turned up since the presidential election in April. But markets seem to not be paying too much attention to what is going on. They are acting as if they have seen a bright light at the end of the tunnel. After having enjoyed stability for a long period — some five years — Turkey is apparently going througha tunnel of uncertainty now, largely stemming from the political noise that has been turned up since the presidential election in (more…)

Posted by meb at June 19th, 2007

Approximately 27 percent of companies established in 2006 with foreign capital are based in Antalya and Muğla. The focus of these businesses is largely on real estate rental and construction, both affected by tourism.
Companies established in 2006 with foreign capital prefer the cities of Antalya and Muğla the most after Istanbul. Foreigners buy the most real estate in Antalya. According to official figures, the percentage of real estate property owned by foreigners in (more…)

Posted by meb at June 19th, 2007

A recently conducted poll revealed widespread opposition to Turkey’s European Union membership among European citizens; also indicated was strong opposition to European leaders’ plans to push a reworked EU constitution onto the statute book without further referenda.
The exclusive Financial Times/Harris opinion poll, published over the weekend in the UK daily, was conducted online by Harris Interactive among a total of 6,169 adults in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US. According to the results strong opposition to Turkish membership in the EU was evident with 71 percent of French citizens and 66 percent (more…)

Posted by meb at June 18th, 2007

Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)’s 15th Anniversary Summit will be held in Istanbul on June 25th, with the participation of representatives of member and observer states. Representatives from 12 associate members and 13 observer nations will participate in the summit.
Several regional and international organizations and BSEC’s sectoral partners such as EU, UN, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), OECD, World Bank, WTO, UN Economic Commission for Europe, UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO, Eurasian (more…)

Posted by meb at June 18th, 2007

After a slump, Turkish jewellers have clinched more deals with countries like Russia and the UAE in a bid to diversify export markets and boost exports in 2007. One of the world’s top gold jewellery exporters, Turkey suffered from high and volatile world gold prices in 2006, which chopped demand from consumers and wholesalers. Exports recovered by a modest 17 per cent in the first five months of the year, helped by lower world gold prices. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 18th, 2007

“The recession process in the Turkish tourism sector which began last year, has recently stopped and an increase has started,” said Ahmet Barut, chairman of Turkish Hotels Federation (TUROFED). Underscoring that the number of Russian and Ukrainian tourists who visited the Mediterranean city of Antalya in the first 5 months of 2007 increased 30 percent over the same period of last year, Barut said number of European tourists rose compared to last (more…)

Posted by meb at June 17th, 2007

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted the invitation of the Turkish prime ministers and will attend the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) summit to be held in Istanbul on June 25.
The summit, which will address a number of issues including energy, transportation, trade and investment, organized crime, combating terrorism and environmental degradation, will be attended by Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko and heads of states or cabinet leaders from other member countries Georgia, Bulgaria and Romania. Armenia, which previously announced that it would not attend at the level of president, will be represented by Foreign Minister Vartan (more…)