Category: Business

Yildirim is a Phenom

Here is an article about famous Turkish designer Hakan Yildirim published on New York Times:

Their Feet May Be Stars in Japan
By ERIC WILSON
Paris

Every season, for more than a decade, their numbers have grown. And we are not talking about new designers, but the photographers who stand for hours outside the Paris show sites just to take pictures of the arriving editors and models.

The scene outside the fashion tent in the Tuileries before the Dior show on Friday was especially comical, as one young Japanese woman after another would photograph Carine Roitfeld (who wore what looked like cashmere pajamas under a leopard-print coat after her big 90th anniversary party the night before) and document her outfit on a preprinted card that showed a woman’s silhouette, with spaces designated for “dress,” “coat,” “bag” and “shoes.”

“We mostly want models,” said Kimi Mori, who works for a Japanese street-style magazine called Spur, before Stella McCartney’s show on Monday. She had focused her lens on an unfamiliar face because she liked that the woman was already wearing the new maxi-length skirt that designers are promoting for spring.

Some editors have discovered they are becoming famous in Asia because of such publications, or at least their feet are, since many photographers only take pictures of their shoes.

“Japanese style is not the same as the style in Europe,” said Manabu Matsunaga, who sends about 100 photographs to Figaro Japan each season. “But maybe the Japanese want to wear more European styles.”

And just who, among the European editors, is most sought after by the Japanese?

“Emmanuelle Alt,” said Mr. Matsunaga’s colleague, Shoko Sakai, of the fashion director of French Vogue. “She’s so cute!”

At 39, He’s a Phenom

Buzz is a mysterious thing. Only a season ago, editors who were in the know could be overheard asking one another if they had seen the collection of that new Brazilian prodigy who had been taken on by the public relations powerhouse KCD at the then-ripe age of 19. This week, the whisper campaign was centered on a Turkish designer who lives part time in London and is 39.

What is it that makes everyone in fashion suddenly stand up and pay attention and clamor for tickets to a designer they had never heard of before?

“Sometimes I think I don’t understand this whole thing at all, because it happened so fast,” said Hakan Yildirim, this season’s breakout star, during a meeting at the Hôtel Costes the day after showing his Hakaan collection. (An extra “a” in his label was added for effect.) Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova and Ms. Roitfeld attended his show; Mariacarla Boscono and Karolina Kurkova walked in it. Leonardo DiCaprio turned up at his after-party, smoking a cigar.

Mr. Yildirim is an established designer in Turkey, where he has worked for more than 15 years and has a signature collection founded in 2002. But he made the leap to the international stage only a year ago, after an introduction to the photographer Mert Alas led to the idea of a new label, for which Mr. Alas consults as a creative director. After showing in London last season, Mr. Yildirim received an emerging designer award from Andam (the French equivalent of the Council of Fashion Designers of America), enabling him to show in Paris. What he delivered was a collection of strong minimalist looks, in papery shades of white on fabrics that were textured with ridges or cutouts, some over visible bras that looked like Frank Gehry architecture.

Backstage, Mr. Yildirim was overwhelmed by the response, including from editors he knew previously only by their photographs. “I was face to face and cheek to cheek with Grace Coddington,” he said. He wore a polo shirt with a gold safety pin attached to the sleeve. It bore a charm to ward off the evil eye.

“I know I have to work very hard,” he said. “I need to be more creative. After a while, people will be bored by this, so I must continue with surprises.”

October 5, 2010
World Travel Awards Europe Ceremony held in Antalya

It was a night of elation – and some disappointment – at this year’s World Travel Awards Europe Ceremony held in Antalya, Turkey on Friday 1st October.

The industry’s top brass – including CEOs and directors of leading travel companies, government ministers and tourist board chiefs – all gathered to battle it out at the most important evening of the year in European travel and tourism.

Although it’s been a tough year for aviation on the continent, there have been a few notable exceptions. Turkish Airlines picked up the award for “Europe’s Leading Airline Business Class” following 12 months in which it posted record profits, grew market share and continued its global expansion. Meanwhile, KLM’s unrivalled air travel experience in the face of such a tough market led to it being voted “Europe’s Leading Airline”.

The luxury sector continues its recovery, led by two of Turkey’s brightest hospitality stars – Mardan Palace won “Europe’s Leading Luxury Hotel” and Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa collected “Europe’s Leading Luxury Resort”.

And there was even more good news for Turkey, which also walked away with “Europe’s Leading Meetings & Conference Hotel” for Rixos Sungate, “Europe’s Leading Tourist Board” for the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office and “Europe’s Leading Destination” for Istanbul.

Europcar received the award for “Europe’s Leading Car Hire” for an incredible eighth year running. P&O Ferries was awarded “Europe’s Leading Short Sea Ferry Operator”, Lisbon was crowned “Europe’s Leading City Break Destination” and Easyjet took away the trophy for “Europe’s Leading Low-Cost Airline”. The award for “Europe’s Leading Marketing Campaign” went to ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’.

The biggest applause of the night was saved for the Special Achievement Award which this year was presented to Talha Gorgulu for his outstanding achievement within the Turkish travel industry. His “A Group” Travel Agency, Kay?tur, brings millions of tourists to Turkey while his charter operation SKY Airlines now flies to 50 destinations with a fleet of 17 state-of-the-art aircraft. In 2006, he set a new benchmark for style, not just in Turkey but worldwide, by opening the Adam & Eve hotel in Antalya.

There were awards too for travel companies, organisations and destinations in over 50 individual countries across Europe.

Swissotel Krasnye Holmy Moscow won the award for “Russia’s Leading Hotel”, Minos Imperial Luxury Beach Resort & Spa took away the title for both “Greece’s Leading All-Inclusive Resort” and the “Mediterranean’s Leading Family Resort”. Leopolis Hotel was awarded “Ukraine’s Leading Hotel” and Grace Santorini received the award for “Greece’s Leading Boutique Hotel”.

VIPs in attendance included Ilhan Acikgoz, President of GETOB; Sururi Corabatir, President of AKTOB; Cemil Ugurlu, President of Betuyab, Andres Erm, CEO of Leopolis Hotel; Talha Gorgulu, Kayi Group Chairman; Tahir Gorgulu, Kayi Group CEO and General Manager of Sky Airlines. Jason Ngobeni, Executive Director of Economic Development for City of Johannesburg; Hamdi Topcu, Chairman of Turkish Airlines and Mohammed Al Amiri, CEO of Amiri Consultancy.

The world-famous Fire of Anatolia dance act provided the entertainment for the evening as the stunning cast of 45 dancers stepped, stomped and swirled to traditional folk music from the Black Sea to the Balkans. Hosting the event was Turkish presenter and journalist Seda Akgul. Other entertainment on the night included The Magic Drifters.

Thousands Voted

The winners were selected with the help of thousands of industry professionals worldwide who have been voting online.

Graham E. Cooke, Founder and President of World Travel Awards said that in addition to the prestige for their respective companies and destinations, the winners also gain considerable commercial benefit.

“Because of its global reach and reputation, World Travel Awards is unique and regularly referred to as the ‘Oscars’ of travel and tourism”, said Cooke. “This means that consumers are increasingly using our portfolio of winners as a reliable and independent guide when booking their travel.”

Established 17 years ago, the awards are committed to raising the standards of customer service and overall business performance throughout the international industry.

“What is so encouraging is the strength demonstrated by European travel and tourism in the face of adversity. Tonight’s winners represent the cream of the industry, and those players that are leading the continent’s recovery,” he added.

Winners of the regional ceremony will now go on to compete in World Travel Awards 2010 final in London, immediately before World Travel Market on Sunday 7 November.

It was a night of elation – and some disappointment – at this year’s World Travel Awards Europe Ceremony held in Antalya, Turkey on Friday 1st October. The industry’s top brass – including CEOs and directors of leading travel companies, government ministers and tourist board chiefs – all gathered to battle it out at the most important evening of the year in European travel and tourism.Although it’s been a tough year for aviation on the continent, there have been a few notable exceptions. Turkish Airlines picked up the award for “Europe’s Leading Airline Business Class” following 12 months in which it posted record profits, grew market share and continued its global expansion. Meanwhile, KLM’s unrivalled air travel experience in the face of such a tough market led to it being voted “Europe’s Leading Airline”.
The luxury sector continues its recovery, led by two of Turkey’s brightest hospitality stars – Mardan Palace won “Europe’s Leading Luxury Hotel” and Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa collected “Europe’s Leading Luxury Resort”.
And there was even more good news for Turkey, which also walked away with “Europe’s Leading Meetings & Conference Hotel” for Rixos Sungate, “Europe’s Leading Tourist Board” for the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office and “Europe’s Leading Destination” for Istanbul.
Europcar received the award for “Europe’s Leading Car Hire” for an incredible eighth year running. P&O Ferries was awarded “Europe’s Leading Short Sea Ferry Operator”, Lisbon was crowned “Europe’s Leading City Break Destination” and Easyjet took away the trophy for “Europe’s Leading Low-Cost Airline”. The award for “Europe’s Leading Marketing Campaign” went to ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’.
The biggest applause of the night was saved for the Special Achievement Award which this year was presented to Talha Gorgulu for his outstanding achievement within the Turkish travel industry. His “A Group” Travel Agency, Kay?tur, brings millions of tourists to Turkey while his charter operation SKY Airlines now flies to 50 destinations with a fleet of 17 state-of-the-art aircraft. In 2006, he set a new benchmark for style, not just in Turkey but worldwide, by opening the Adam & Eve hotel in Antalya.
There were awards too for travel companies, organisations and destinations in over 50 individual countries across Europe.Swissotel Krasnye Holmy Moscow won the award for “Russia’s Leading Hotel”, Minos Imperial Luxury Beach Resort & Spa took away the title for both “Greece’s Leading All-Inclusive Resort” and the “Mediterranean’s Leading Family Resort”. Leopolis Hotel was awarded “Ukraine’s Leading Hotel” and Grace Santorini received the award for “Greece’s Leading Boutique Hotel”.
VIPs in attendance included Ilhan Acikgoz, President of GETOB; Sururi Corabatir, President of AKTOB; Cemil Ugurlu, President of Betuyab, Andres Erm, CEO of Leopolis Hotel; Talha Gorgulu, Kayi Group Chairman; Tahir Gorgulu, Kayi Group CEO and General Manager of Sky Airlines. Jason Ngobeni, Executive Director of Economic Development for City of Johannesburg; Hamdi Topcu, Chairman of Turkish Airlines and Mohammed Al Amiri, CEO of Amiri Consultancy.
The world-famous Fire of Anatolia dance act provided the entertainment for the evening as the stunning cast of 45 dancers stepped, stomped and swirled to traditional folk music from the Black Sea to the Balkans. Hosting the event was Turkish presenter and journalist Seda Akgul. Other entertainment on the night included The Magic Drifters.
Thousands VotedThe winners were selected with the help of thousands of industry professionals worldwide who have been voting online.Graham E. Cooke, Founder and President of World Travel Awards said that in addition to the prestige for their respective companies and destinations, the winners also gain considerable commercial benefit.
“Because of its global reach and reputation, World Travel Awards is unique and regularly referred to as the ‘Oscars’ of travel and tourism”, said Cooke. “This means that consumers are increasingly using our portfolio of winners as a reliable and independent guide when booking their travel.”
Established 17 years ago, the awards are committed to raising the standards of customer service and overall business performance throughout the international industry.
“What is so encouraging is the strength demonstrated by European travel and tourism in the face of adversity. Tonight’s winners represent the cream of the industry, and those players that are leading the continent’s recovery,” he added.
Winners of the regional ceremony will now go on to compete in World Travel Awards 2010 final in London, immediately before World Travel Market on Sunday 7 November.

Travel Daily News

October 4, 2010
Blame Nobel for crisis, says author of “Black Swan”

By Adam Cox

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Did the Nobel prize help trigger the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression?

Nassim Taleb, who shot to fame with his ideas about risk in the book “The Black Swan,” believes the economics award and the theories it celebrates deserve their share of blame.

“I want to remove the harm from these economic models. And the Nobel is not helping. They should be held partly responsible, if not largely responsible, for the crisis,” Taleb told Reuters by telephone.

The first of the Nobel awards will be announced next Monday, with the economics prize due a week later on Oct 11.

According to Taleb, there are a number of mistaken ideas about forecasting and measuring risk, which all contribute to events like the 2008 global crisis. The Nobel prize, he says, has given them a stamp of approval, allowing them to propagate.

Taleb is a former trader who took advantage of the mispricing of derivatives to make his fortune in the years before the crisis. He published “The Black Swan” in 2007 and went on to make millions more during the upheaval.

He rattles off a list of Nobel prize winners who make his blood boil. They include: Harry Markowitz, William Sharpe, Robert Merton, Myron Scholes, Robert Engle, Franco Modigliani and Merton Miller — a virtual “Who’s Who” of the economic world.

Merton and Scholes, for instance, were recognized for their work in valuing derivatives. Modigliani and Miller are known for a theory which some have argued promotes financing by debt.

Taleb attacks their works for how they are constructed and what they lead to. “There is no world in which these ideas can work mathematically,” he said.

Forecasting methods, which he discusses in detail in his book, create a false sense of security or, worse, send people in the wrong direction. Universities then compound the problem by teaching these Nobel-approved ideas as orthodoxy.

His conversation is peppered with metaphors. “If I give you a map of Sparta when you’re in Johannesburg, you will definitely have a problem,” he says of the tools used in modern finance.

Taleb said he has met with the King of Sweden and suggested he do something about the economics prize, which was an addition in the 1960s to the roster of prizes awarded since 1901 for science, literature and peace.

“HE CRASHED THE PLANE”

But if he is unable to make headway in Stockholm, does Taleb believe his new influence can help him change the practices of important policy makers? He will be the first to say that his blunt, uncompromising manner make that highly unlikely.

He says he walked out of a meeting that included Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other luminaries and wouldn’t feel comfortable shaking their hands.

Federal Reserve Governor Ben Bernanke he calls “a true charlatan,” arguing his idea of a “Great Moderation” made the world more dangerous because it masked underlying risks.

“He got us here. He crashed the plane,” Taleb said. “I say it literally, he doesn’t know what’s going on.”

In Europe, Taleb’s ideas have found more favor. He spent time with British Prime Minister David Cameron and said the new leader’s policies are visibly influenced by “The Black Swan.”

Asked if he would accept a Nobel prize himself if selected, Taleb is uncharacteristically hesitant. People might think he had sold out, he worries. But he concludes: “If it would help society that I got something like that, I probably would.”

For now, Taleb is content to write books and try to advance his ideas. He says he has given up trading, but has a clear purpose for all the profits he made. “I’m using the money now to finance the destruction of the economic establishment.”

, Sep 28, 2010

October 4, 2010
German Ex-foreign Minister Mr. Fischer: We may knock on the doors of Ankara and there may be nobody home

Economic realism will ease anti-Turkish feeling, Joschka Fischer says

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Austrian, French and German opposition to Turkey joining the European Union will melt away with time, Germany’s ex-foreign minister Joschka Fischer has predicted.

Speaking to EUobserver on the margins of an event to launch a Council of Europe ‘Group of Eminent Persons’ in Brussels on Thursday (30 September), he said a growing realisation that Europe needs to replenish its aging workforce is already altering perceptions and that it is Turkey, not the EU, which might ultimately jettison accession plans.

“We may knock on the doors of Ankara and there may be nobody home,” Mr Fischer warned.

“If you look at France and Germany, you don’t need to be a prophet to see things will change,” he added. “Europe’s future economy will depend on its openness. We need immigration, that’s the maths of it. Either we Europeans wake up or we become poorer.”

The former Green party politician is a highly-paid advisor for the Nabucco consortium trying to build a gas pipeline in Turkey. The Council of Europe group, which he is to chair, will study the problem of growing intolerance in Europe as witnessed in the recent Roma dispute and the rise of far-right parties even in traditionally liberal countries such as Sweden.

Turkey, home to Europe’s largest Muslim and Roma populations, would wield enormous clout in the EU if it joined.

But at the same time its median age is just 28 compared to 42 in the Union and its economy grew by around 11 percent in the first half of this year compared to the EU’s 1-2 percent.

Its confidence on the world stage has grown in recent years as has that of fellow emerging power Brazil. The two countries in May put forward an alternative plan for tackling Iran’s nuclear ambitions, challenging the authority of the so-called P5+1 group of France, Germany, the UK, China, Russia and the US which had monopolised international diplomacy on Iran until then.

German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle, from the Free Democratic Party in the German coalition government, has in recent days spoken along the same lines as Mr Fischer.

“It is in our own interest that the perspective of Turkey remains European and Western,” he said at a press briefing in Washington on Wednesday. “It sometimes amazes me how self-assuredly countries that are influential today assume that things will always be that way,” he told the Wall Street Journal a week earlier.

The UK and Sweden are the biggest supporters of Turkish accession. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union party, Austria and France continue to say it should be a “privileged partner” instead of an EU member. Meanwhile, Cyprus has vetoed the opening of eight chapters and the closing of any chapters in the past five years of accession talks due to a territorial dispute.

Turkey feels insulted, optimistic

Ankara hopes that another chapter (on competition) will be opened by the end of the year and that three more (on public procurement, education and energy) will follow in 2011. But its diplomats are not shy about voicing frustration with the slow pace of progress.

“It is insulting to be offered something [a privileged partnership] that does not exist,” Egemen Bagis, the Turkish junior minister for EU affairs and its chief negotiator on EU accession, told reporters at a lunch in Brussels on Wednesday.

“I am confident in the democratisation and economic prosperity of my country. To be honest, I don’t have so much confidence in your economic prosperity. We are not coming with additional burdens to the EU, we are coming yo take burdens from Europe. My new motto is: ‘Hold on tight Europe, Turkey is coming to save you.’”

Mr Bagis sees an ally in the EU’s UK-origin foreign relations chief, Catherine Ashton, and its Czech-origin enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele.

Recalling a recent six-hour-long meeting with the pair in Istanbul, the junior minister said: “She is a very smart, intellectually well-prepared, wise lady, who is aware of issues in detail … I can talk with them and they can talk with us.”

EUOBSERVER

October 1, 2010
Turkish govt plans to turn Istanbul into finance center as Dubai, London

Turkish Deputy PM Babacan said that Turkey’s rapid recovery from the global downturn was giving a new boost to the government’s plan on Istanbul.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for Economy Ali Babacan said that Turkey’s rapid recovery from the global downturn was giving a new boost to the government’s plan to turn Istanbul into an international financial center to rival Dubai or eventually even London.

Babacan said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal during the annual Global Economy Symposium in Istanbul, “the international financial downturn has only added to Istanbul’s attractiveness.”

“Especially after the global economic crisis, Turkey increasingly is perceived as an island of stability in a region that stretches from Ireland to India. Turkey has a financial sector that was ‘tested and proved’ during the global crisis,” he said.

“The government made no bailouts. That has helped keep the country’s budget deficit down and left room to cut taxes in the future, even as other countries with big financial centers raise taxes in a struggle to plug deficits,” he said.

Babacan recognized that Turkey was not China. But he said, “the government’s assertive foreign policy, a political atmosphere is becoming more open, and developments such as the dramatic expansion of Turkish Airlines is creating a commercial hinterland for Istanbul that is much wider than Turkey alone,” he said. He cited the Balkans, Romania, Ukraine, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Babacan said, without naming Dubai, that Istanbul was also better placed to win the Middle Eastern market in the long term.

He pointed to the growing number of Arabs who were buying real estate in Istanbul.
“Northern Africa, too, is becoming part of Turkey’s commercial sphere,” he said.

“I have spoken to a surprising number of bankers who were fed up with London’s income-tax increases. They told me that they were considering moving personnel.

But there has been no sudden rush of international bankers to take of advantage of Istanbul’s relatively low office-space and wage costs yet,” Babacan added.

AA

World Bulletin

September 30, 2010
Turkey urges EU for direct trade with Turkish Cyprus

Turkey’s chief negotiator in EU accession talks urged the European Parliament to approve a legislation that would allow direct trade with Turkish Cyprus.

Turkey’s chief negotiator in country’s European Union accession talks on Wednesday urged the European Parliament to approve a legislation that would allow direct trade between EU member states and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

“The moment EU vessels dock at the Turkish Cypriot ports, our ports in Turkey will open their doors to the vessels of all EU member states,” Egemen Bagis told reporters.

The EU calls on Turkey to open its harbors and airports to all traffic from the Greek Cypriot administration in line with an additional protocol to the country’s customs union agreement.

Turkey says it will not remove limitations on the Greek Cypriot ships unless the EU ends a similar embargo on the TRNC, as the Union pledged after Turkish Cypriots agreed to a 2004 UN-brokered plan to reunify the island.

“The Direct Trade Regulation would also help resolve the Cyprus issue by closing the income gap between the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots,” Bagis also said.

AA, 29 September 2010

September 30, 2010