Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at August 30th, 2008

Not being a member of the European Union, or EU, has not affected Turkey’s real estate market, reported an international property website citing a property expert.

Although Turkey is still on the waiting list to become a member of the EU the real estate market of the country has been booming already, said Liam Bailey, Property Wire’s global markets expert on propertyshowrooms.com.

One of the greatest advantages the market has is that prices remain “relatively low,” despite increasing by between 30 and 40 percent in the past two years, he said. An example of this is that a two-bedroom apartment in Dalaman, a small Mediterranean farming town situated between Marmaris and Fethiye, can be bought for as little as 40,000 pounds, he added. (more…)

Posted by meb at August 30th, 2008

State-owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) is set to drill seven or eight new deep oil wells in the Black Sea, TPAO Chairman Mehmet Uysal said on Friday, the Anatolian Agency reported.

“TPAO projects to drill new wells in the 5 year period between 2009 and 2014. These works would cost around $150-200 million,” Uysal told the 9th Energy Arena, an international conference held in Istanbul.

“TPAO intensified exploration works in seas. The Salt Lake (in central Turkey) would be the region to focus on,” Uysal also said adding that French companies were interested in conducting oil exploration in the eastern Mediterranean region near Mersin.

Turkey is holding talks with Germany’s RWE AG and U.S. Chevron on conducting oil exploration in the Black Sea, a senior Turkish energy ministry source also told Reuters on Friday. (more…)

Posted by meb at August 30th, 2008

Turkey’s importance for Europe has grown in the aftermath of a brief Russian-Georgian war in the Caucasus and Europe should develop joint strategies with Turkey, members of the European Parliament said yesterday.

Cem Özdemir, a German member of the European Parliament, said it was an undeniable fact that Turkey’s importance has grown in the aftermath of the Caucasus crisis. “This is why there is a greater need for closer ties between Turkey and the European Union,” he told a press conference in Berlin. “Of course, there are conditions to be met for this, but Turkey should become a part of Europe.” (more…)

Posted by meb at August 30th, 2008

The Georgian incursion into South Ossetia and the ensuing Russian response has dealt a serious blow to trade in the Caucasus, which was already battered by tension in the region.

Turkey suffered serious losses in economic terms. The country’s trade not only with Georgia, but also with Azerbaijan and Central Asia was blocked. Thousands of trucks had to wait on the road and deliveries could not be performed.

There is talk now about restrictions imposed by Russia on Turkish commodities at its customs. Following the crisis in Georgia, Russia distributed a circular that imposed several restriction on goods imported from Turkey and instructed Russian officials to slow down the acceptance procedures for Turkish goods at customs, which meant a secret embargo was put in place by Russian authorities on Turkish commodities. According to a statement from the Russian side, Russian authorities are just trying to assert control over their customs and fight against bribery and corruption. However, Turkish exporters argue that this practice discriminates against trucks coming from Turkey. (more…)

Posted by meb at August 30th, 2008

Foreign Trade Minister Kürşad Tüzmen announced on Friday that Turkey will begin implementing reciprocal measures on Monday in response to a recent increase in security measures leveled by Russia against Turkish exporters.

Speaking to the press after he received Iraqi Planning and Development Minister Ali Baban and a delegate of Iraqi officials in Ankara, Tüzmen said the obstacles against Turkish trucks attempting to pass through Russian borders were completely against World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. “These hindrances fall under the definition of ‘trade barriers,’ which are strictly forbidden by international agreements,” he said. (more…)

Posted by meb at August 28th, 2008

Foreign investors have been pleased with the announcement that Turkey will scrap 700,000 tractors that are over 20 years old, a measure that has been ordered by the government.

Fazlı Özaltın, vice president of the Turkish Farming Devices Manufacturers Assembly, told the Anatolia news agency that the Industry and Commerce Ministry has started work on scrapping the old tractors. “Some Turkish farmers had been using the same tractors for 53 years, and they still use very old ones. The tractors that Turkish farmers use are relatively old when compared to those in Europe,” Özaltın noted. Underlining that a great demand will emerge in the Turkish tractor market with the handover of 700,000 old tractors, Özaltın asserted that for this reason alone more than 30 foreign companies had decided to invest in Turkey in the last two years. “They want to profit from this situation in Turkey,” he said, referring to foreign investors. (more…)

Posted by meb at August 28th, 2008

Volkan Şimşek, president of the Turkish Professional Hotel Managers’ Assembly, has said the number of tourists visiting Turkey increased 23 percent this year, but that travelers stayed for less time on average compared to last year.

According to the Anatolia news agency, this year tourists stayed in Turkey for only nine days on average, down from 11 in 2007. Şimşek underlined that hotels in Antalya have had a hard time maintaining full occupancy. “By the end of this year the number of the tourists visiting Turkey will be 9 million, which means a 1.4 million increase compared to last year. However, the average overnight stay rate, which was 83 million, will decrease to 81 million,” Şimşek noted. Signifying that the hotels are not as crowded as they were last year, Şimşek asserted that even in the busiest period, generally in August, there are not enough tourists showing up at hotels. (more…)

Posted by meb at August 28th, 2008

The Inteltek venture of Greece’s Intralot and Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell made the best bid on Thursday in a tender to operate the Turkish sports betting company Iddaa.

Tender commission Chairman Mustafa Turgut said Inteltek, current operator of Iddaa, had made an offer to take 1.4 percent of revenue under the revenue-sharing scheme, the lowest of three offers, in the final round of bidding.

The tender is subject to the approval of regulatory bodies. It approved then Inteltek will be given the rights to operate the company under the 10-year deal. (more…)