Category: Business

Airline Uniforms Stir Fears of Conservatism in Turkey

Internationally renowned Turkish designer Dilek Hanif says that she received no pressure to produce conservative new designs for Turkish Airlines. (Tiejun Wang/The Epoch Times)

ISTANBUL—New cabin crew uniforms have become the latest ignition for Turkey’s ever-smouldering debate on religious conservatism in politics.

State-owned Turkish Airlines (THY) was accused of leaning toward conservatism after photos of new sample uniforms were leaked on Twitter. The airline strenuously denies the accusations, saying the photos were of a rejected design.

The leaked images of the cabin crew uniforms led the public, fashion designers, and journalists to voice heavy criticism of the airline and of world famous designer Dilek Hanif for what they saw as conservative and uncomfortable designs.

Turkish Airlines would like to try something unique that includes both modern and ethnic patterns to better reflect airline’s brand image.

—Dilek Hanif, fashion designer

One photo that showed a stewardess with Ottoman-style long caftans, fez (felt hat), and thick socks was leaked on Twitter by another designer, raising an immediate response on social media.

“Turkish Airlines would like to try something unique that includes both modern and ethnic patterns to better reflect the airline’s brand image” said designer Hanif in an interview with The Epoch Times.

“There is a very big misunderstanding. The selecting committee wanted to see the patterns and longer skirts as an option. After seeing it, they agreed that it was not suitable and eliminated it right away. It is unfortunate that picture was leaked on Twitter.” Hanif stresses that she has not received any kind of pressure from government or airline’s management to design conservative dresses.

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Some think that Turkish Airlines, 49 percent owned by the government, has been influenced by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)—a centrist Islamic party.

“AKP during its ten-year rule has been consciously imposing this kind of change. This is a product of AKP mindset implementing changes step by step that attract public reaction” said Vice President of Republican People’s Party (CHP) Umut Oran.

Turkish Airlines, Best European Airline award winner, made a public statement confirming that the selection of the uniforms had not been finalized. The company said there are many options, and immediately released new photos showing other uniform designs.

But rumors regarding an alcohol ban on some Turkish Airlines’ flights have kept them in the melee of the debate on religious conservatism.

Rumors started with a tweet by a Turkish singer Demet Akalin on Feb. 9 saying, “Turkish Airlines flight from Adana had no alcohol service! It has been lifted in some domestic flights, FYI! Tourists in the front seat rebelled.”

On the same day, Hurriyet columnist Vahap Munyar wrote that there was no alcohol service in a flight to Kayseri and when asked cabin crew blamed the service company for neglecting to upload alcohol.

Rising criticisms prompted Turkish Airlines to release a public statement on Feb. 13 to clarify the new alcohol policy. The company has confirmed that alcohol is only served in business class on domestic flights. Business passengers in 5 out of 16 domestic routes are served alcohol, with the alcohol service removed from the other 11 due to lack of demand, says the airline. In addition, Turkish Airlines has removed alcohol service on flights to 8 countries (out of 98). The company has cited requests from the countries themselves as the cause behind its policy.

But the clarifications by Turkish Airlines have not helped to soothe reactions.

It was noted o a person’s microblog that the Turkish Airlines is at the forefront of a religious war against alcohol use in Turkey.

Vice president of Republican People’s Party, Umut Oran claimed, “Emirates and Qatar Airlines still serve alcohol on flights to those countries,” and has sent a parliamentary question to Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek on Turkish Airlines’ new alcohol policy. Oran has asked whether the airlines has received direct instructions from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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“The decision we have taken has nothing to do with politics. My duty is to manage Turkish Airlines in [the] most effective and profitable way. We make decisions based on purely economic considerations,” said Hamdi Topcu chairman of Turkish Airlines in an interview with Radikal newspaper.

Columnist Ertugrul Ozkok blamed Turkish Airlines for separating the country and wrote, “Do you mean those who fly to the western cities of this country are ‘profanes,’ and those flying to the rest are clean believers? …You have transformed Turkey into such a faith federation.”

via Airline Uniforms Stir Fears of Conservatism in Turkey | Middle East | World | Epoch Times.

March 9, 2013
World-Famous Supermodel Karlie Kloss Comes to Turkey for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul

Mercedes-Benz, supporting the world’s most important fashion weeks for more than 17 years, adds Istanbul to its roster of worldwide sponsorships. In addition to title sponsorships of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weeks in renowned capitals including Ber-lin, Beijing, Tokyo, New York, Moscow and many more, the brand is also present at exclusive fashion platforms in numerous other international metropolises such as Mi-lan, Paris and London.

The first Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul will take place between March 12-16 at Antrepo 3 in Tophane/Istanbul. Mercedes-Benz will bring the protagonists of the latest Mercedes-Benz Fashion Key Visual Campaign, the brand new CLA-Class and supermodel Karlie Kloss, American photographer and artist Ryan McGinley and creative director Jefferson Hack together with Turkish fashion designers, professionals and the media. The American supermodel Karlie Kloss, face of the world’s leading brands, will present Mercedes-Benz’ latest fashion film “Mind of its Own”- starring herself and the new CLA- which was shot by Ryan McGinley and directed by Jefferson Hack. Together with Jefferson Hack and Ryan McGinley, Karlie Kloss will talk about the production phase as well as preparatory processes of the key visual to the fashion world in Istanbul.

The Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class, which will be exhibited for the first time in Turkey during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul, underscores the sporty side of the Mercedes-Benz brand with its dynamic design. Its breathtakingly sporty proportions and powerfully dynamic design give this four-door coupé a unique look compared to the other cars within the same class. The new CLA-Class, leading a brand new segment and offering much more than its precedents, undoubtedly will be one of the highlights of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul. Thus, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul will witness the perfect harmony of the highly sophisticated design of Mercedes-Benz vehicles’ with style and fashion.

Over the course of the presentations and shows during five days, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul will bring together fashion professionals and thousands of people with ultimate design and style expectations.

via World-Famous Supermodel Karlie Kloss Comes to Turkey for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul.

March 8, 2013
Turkey claims 1.8 trillion cu m of shale gas reserves: agency

Turkey’s estimated shale gas reserves total 1.8 trillion cu m, state news agency Anatolia Wednesday quoted the president of Turkish Association of Petroleum Geologists Ismail Bahtiyar as stating.
Bahtiyar was reported as saying Turkey has considerable potential for producing shale gas from areas in the southeast of the country and in the European province of Thrace.

Turkey’s shale gas potential has excited considerable speculation in the local media following a joint venture agreement signed last year between Shell and state upstream operator TPAO to prospect for shale gas in rock formations in the Diyarbakir region of southeast Turkey.

Reports have claimed reserves as being anything between a few Bcm and 20 Tcm.

Shell is expected to begin drilling test wells later this year.

Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz last week denied reports of major shale gas finds in the Konya, Ankara and Kirsehir regions stating that as yet there have been no confirmed finds of commercial reserves of shale gas in Turkey.

–David O’Byrne, newsdesk@platts.com

–Edited by Maurice Geller, maurice_geller@platts.com

March 8, 2013
Turkcell Women’s Initiative, ‘Strong Women, Strong Turkey’ at the UN

By Turkcell

ISTANBUL, TURKEY, MARCH 7, 2013 — /PRNewswire/ —

Turkcell Group Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Koray Öztürkler and the UN Global Compact Members

Turkcell (NYSE:TKC, ISE: TCELL), Turkey’s leading communications and technology company Turkcell represented Turkey on the panel organized by the UN for the Women’s Empowerment Principles – WEPs event on March 5th. During this event, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Koray Öztürkler presented Turkcell as an example for leading global companies, as well as the first Turkish Technology Company to challenge and reduce the inequalities that women face, through its corporate social responsibility projects with an emphasis on the principle of ‘Empowering the Women’.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130307/600701 )

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120614/537932-b )

The 5th panel, which this year was hosted by the Austrian and Swedish governments, was attended by UN country affiliates, leading businessmen, academic scholars and NGO representatives. Speaking on the panel, Öztürkler stated that: ‘It is an honor to represent Turkey with Turkcell’s pioneering social responsibility projects at an event focused ‘solely’ on Women. Providing better standards for our Women helps guarantee the future of our children. In an attempt to provide equal opportunities in every aspects of life, we stand by the women through our latest technology, and corporate social responsibility projects, as well as by generating employment opportunities. Since the last time we were here 2 years ago for our Snowdrops project, we have continued to support and initiate many other projects such as; Women Power to the Economy, regarding equality at the workplace, and the Zero Tolerance of Violence against Women project, in cooperation with the Ministry of Family and Social Policies, as well as Human Resources practices, which position Turkcell as a unique company that cares about Women. Once again, we are honored to represent Turkey at such an event with our vision of ‘Strong Women, Strong Turkey.’

Panel participants were able to see the successful results with impressive numbers achieved by Turkcell:

Snowdrops: The project was developed jointly in 2000 with the Association in Support of Contemporary Living to provide equal educational opportunities for underprivileged girls. So far, over 100,000 scholarships have been granted. Each year 10,000 young Turkish women continue to receive both financial and moral support.

Women Power to the Economy: Together with the Turkish Foundation for Waste Reduction (“TISVA”) and the Turkey Grameen Microfinance Program, Turkcell has initiated the “Women Power to the Economy.” It aims to reach out to 100,000 women within 4 years. Turkcell has made an initial donation of TRY400,000 to boost the economic participation of women. Additionally, Turkcell organized a gala dinner attended by Turkish business leaders where the honorary guest was the Nobel Prize winning Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus to raise an additional TRY400,000 for the campaign.

”Zero’’ Tolerance of Violence against Women: In an attempt to raise social awareness of this sad reality, which damages family unity and hurts society at large, a national 360 degree awareness campaign was launched.

Employment: Turkcell human Resources policies enable women to be promoted to managerial positions, including senior executive level of Turkcell’s executive level managers 42% are women. The total number of women working at Turkcell makes up 49% of our employees overall.

ABOUT TURKCELL

Turkcell is the leading communications and technology company in Turkey, with 35.1 million subscribers as of December 31, 2012. Turkcell is a leading regional player, with market leadership in five of the nine countries in which it operates with its approximately 69.2 million subscribers as of December 31, 2012. It has become one of the first among the global operators to have implemented HSPA+. It has achieved up to 43.2 Mbps speed using the Dual Carrier technology, and is continuously working to provide the latest technology to its customers, e.g. 84 Mbps in the near future. Turkcell Superonline, a wholly owned subsidiary of Turkcell, is the one and only telecom operator to offer households fiber broadband connection at speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps in Turkey. As of December 31, 2012, Turkcell population coverage is at 99.17% in 2G and 84.02% in 3G. Turkcell reported a TRY10.5 billion (US$5.9 billion) revenue with total assets of TRY18.7 billion (US$10.5 billion) as of December 31, 2012. It has been listed on the NYSE and the ISE since July 2000, and is the only NYSE-listed company in Turkey. Read more athttp://www.turkcell.com.tr

For further information please contact Turkcell

Nihat Narin Division Head of Investor and International Media Relations Tel: + 90-212-313-1244 Email: nihat.narin@turkcell.com.tr

Banu Uzgur International Media Relations Manager Tel: + 90-212-313-1506 Email: banu.uzgur@turkcell.com.tr investor.relations@turkcell.com.tr

You can now follow the most up-to-date Turkcell developments on twitter by clicking on the link below.

SOURCE Turkcell

via ISTANBUL, Turkey, March 7, 2013: Turkcell Women’s Initiative, ‘Strong Women, Strong Turkey’ at the UN | PRNewswire | Rock Hill Herald Online.

March 8, 2013
Yeni Raki Carries ‘The Spirit of Istanbul’ to Europe

ISTANBUL, March 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ —

Increasingly more events are being held via the “The Spirit of Istanbul” communication platform launched last year in Berlin by leading Turkish and worldwide raki brand Yeni Raki. This week, Yeni Raki will offer the Europeans a new concept in entertainment: “The Spirit of Istanbul Week,” featuring a series of entertaining events in contracted restaurants in various European cities between 8 and 16 March 2013.

Yeni Raki will also hold home parties for selected individuals unable to attend the restaurant events. Moving confidently towards world brand status through the activities, Yeni Raki also contributes significantly to the promotion of Istanbul.

With “The Spirit of Istanbul Week” to be held from March 8-16, 2013 in such important European cities as London, Amsterdam and Berlin, Yeni Raki will bring the energy of Istanbul to Europe.

(Photo: )

By arranging special weekly events in contracted venues, Yeni Raki aims to show Europeans the modern aspects of raki enjoyment. Throughout the week, Yeni Raki will decorate these venues with giant visuals featuring the Istanbul skyline, and offer entertaining activities such as rhythm and Istanbul dance workshops.

Those unable to visit the event venues will still have the chance to win a Yeni Raki house party by taking part in a competition organized on the company’s official Facebook page. The parties will allow Yeni Raki to carry Istanbul’s spirit to people’s homes, offering a host of entertainment and surprise activities including oriental dancing, percussion shows, DJs, Turkish cuisine and more.

In order to promote the event, Yeni Raki has been using outdoor, digital and guerilla campaigns to decorate the streets of cities like London, Amsterdam and Berlin with “The Spirit of Istanbul Week” visuals. Yeni Raki plans to continue these promotional events throughout Europe and the world.

For more information: https://www.facebook.com/yenirakiglobal

For further information please contact

Zarakol Communication Services

Metin Aksoy

Tel: +90-212-217-29-99

Tel: +90-549-798-22-22

Email: metin@zarakol.com.tr

SOURCE Yeni Raki

via PR Newswire UK: Yeni Raki Carries ‘The Spirit of Istanbul’ to Europe — ISTANBUL, March 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ –.

March 8, 2013
A New Chapter For Turkey?

In 2012, Turkey was the best performer among the emerging markets we track on our Periodic Table showing a decade of returns. All developing countries rose last year, but stocks in Turkey climbed an astounding 56%.

(See a decade of results for yourself on our interactive periodic table.)

While visiting the country last week, I was happy to see my explicit knowledge of Turkey’s growth was supported by my tacit knowledge. Istanbul has been in the midst of a fantastic transformation from an impoverished population to one of affluence. Popping up among the beautiful Ottoman mosques, Byzantine churches, palaces and bazaars are ultra-contemporary art sculptures, shopping malls and lush landscaping. This blend of ancient with modern fits well with the young, vibrant and culturally diverse crowd that hangs out in the local cafes, shops and galleries.

via A New Chapter For Turkey? – Seeking Alpha.

March 7, 2013