Turkish Forum

Category: East Asia & Pacific

  • China Sunergy opens factory in Istanbul

    China Sunergy opens factory in Istanbul

    China Sunergy Co. (CSUN) has opened a solar facility in Istanbul, Turkey with Turkish partner Seul Energy Investment Corp. The first 150MW solar module line will begin production this month.

    Turkey_Photo_Flickr_KLMircea

    CSUN moves to Turkey.

    Flickr/KLMircea

    The other 100MW cell line in the new facility will begin production in March this year. According to Seul Energy, CSUN is also planning on moving additional 200MW of equipment to Turkey from the facilities in Shanghai in the first quarter of 2013 and to gradually ramp up production. This plan is nevertheless subject to market dynamics and the Turkish plant’s production progress.

    The new facility is in the Trade Free Zone in Istanbul and CSUN expects the plant to create over 1,200 jobs locally. They also expect Turkey to become the second largest manufacturing base for the company after China.

    The two companies signed agreements to invest jointly in three newly established companies under the name CSUN Eurasia to produce PV cells and modules in Turkey and to invest in downstream solar projects in the country and the region around.

    Stephen Cai, CEO of China Sunergy commented, “We are delighted to see our facilities in Turkey established and ready for production. Solar projects in Turkey enjoy higher feed-in tariffs when adopting locally manufactured cells and modules. Therefore, we believe our cooperation with the strong local partner SEUL Energy will help us capture substantial market share in the region.

    Cagri Seymen, Chairman of SEUL Energy noted that Turkey’s energy demand has dramatically increased over the past decade and that it is poised to become the next new solar energy dynamo in the region.

    via China Sunergy opens factory in Istanbul: pv-magazine.

  • Solo Travel Destination: Istanbul, Turkey

    Solo Travel Destination: Istanbul, Turkey

    We are pleased to present a new Solo Travel Destination Post from Alison, a member of the Solo Travel Society on Facebook. Alison is from Australia, and submitted the following report about Istanbul. Do you have a solo travel destination that you would like to recommend? Submit your description here, along with a few photos, and share it with fellow travelers!

    Solo travel rating: 1.5 (1 is easiest, 4 is most difficult. Please see chart below)

    Languages spoken: Turkish, French, English, Kurdish

    fishing istanbul

    photo, image, fishing, Istanbul

    Fishing on the Bosphorous Bridge.

    Reasons to go: Istanbul is fascinating, culturally and historically, and an absolute visual feast. One of the world’s great waterfront cities, it has the Bosphorous, the Golden Horn & the Sea of Marmara on three sides. There is great shopping, a plethora of historical sites, a rich live music & night club culture, and wonderful food.

    You can tour palaces and museums – Hagia Sophia (once a church, then a mosque, now a museum), the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace – and get a glimpse into the opulent life of the Ottoman Empire. Cruise up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea or out into the Sea of Marmara to the Princes Islands.

    The Roman mosaic museum and the nearby Rasta Bazaar are full of beautiful silks, embroideries, leather goods, and carpets, carpets, carpets! Check out Kumkapi for freshly caught seafood, Haci Abdullah for classic Ottoman dishes, or take a ferry ride to the Eastern side for fabulous regional foods at Ciya. Visit Yanothererebatan cistern or the hamam for a turkish steam bath and a good scrub down and massage. If you have more time to spare head to Cappadocia for a balloon flight, or the Turquoise coast for a gulet cruise.

     

    Solo Travel Destination Rating System

    Safety – 1 (1 very safe, 2 safe in most areas, 3 be cautious at all times.)

    Language – 2 (1 English is first language, 2 English speakers easy to find, 3 English speakers rare)

    Navigation – 1 (1 easy to navigate by transit or car, 2 poor transit, car necessary, 3 not easy to get around)

    Culture – 2 (1 Similar to North America or Western Europe, 2 Different from above but relaxed and easy, 3 Challenging)

    Average Rating – 1.5 (1 is easiest, 4 is most difficult)

    via Solo Travel Destination: Istanbul, Turkey | Solo Traveler.

    Source : https://solotravelerworld.com/solo-travel-destination-istanbul-turkey/

  • Turkey gets a glimpse of China’s civilization

    Turkey gets a glimpse of China’s civilization

    Turkey gets a glimpse of China’s civilization

    Updated: 2012-11-19 08:08

    By Lin Shujuan ( China Daily)

    f04da2db11221213c76835Turkey gets a glimpse of China’s civilization

    Treasure of China, a high-profile exhibition consisting of 101 representative relics of Chinese civilization over its 5,000 years of development, has arrived at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey.

    As part of the ongoing Chinese Culture Year in Turkey, the exhibition – the first of its kind initiated by the two governments – will be open to the public from Nov 20 to Feb 20.

    “We hope to offer a glimpse of China’s 5,000-year civilization and an enjoyable visiting experience for the Turkish people,” says Yao An, deputy director of Arts Exhibition of China who helped curate the exhibition.

    For the exhibition, curators have spent more than one year handpicking the exhibits from major museums in Beijing, Shanghai and Shaanxi province, including the Imperial Palace Museum, Shanghai Museum and the Qinshihuang Terracotta Museum, Yao says.

    Among them are Chinese iconic treasures like colorful pottery from the New Stone Age (c. 3300-2200 BC), Terracotta Warriors and horses from the Qinshihuang Terracotta Museum in Xi’an, stone carved Buddha statues from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) when the Silk Road connecting China and Turkey was in its prime period and glazed plates used in the imperial family during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

    Curators have also arranged five mirrors to reflect the four Terracotta Warriors, including a general and a kneeling bowman and one horse, to produce the effect of an army.

    Tolga Ucak, political counselor from the Turkish embassy to China, says he believes the exhibition will attract a lot of attention, especially the terracotta army exhibits. He visited the Qinshihuang Terracotta Museum for the first time in 2010.

    “Everyone in Turkey know of the Terracotta Warriors and horses, but few of them have seen them for real,” the counselor says.

    “Once they see them at the exhibition today, they might be interested in coming to China to see more tomorrow.”

    Zhang Heqing, director of Division of Foreign Affairs under the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, says the exhibition is part of the ongoing Chinese Culture Year in Turkey, which started in December 2011.

    In 2013, China will host the Turkish Culture Year.

    [email protected]

    (China Daily 11/19/2012 page20)

    via Turkey gets a glimpse of China’s civilization |Life |chinadaily.com.cn.

  • 2012 Blake Prize for Religious Art Winners

    2012 Blake Prize for Religious Art Winners

    Fabian Astore’s The Threshold was inspired by a girl in a Turkish mosque.

    A little girl runs carefree in concentric circles past 20 men worshipping in Istanbul’s Suleymaniye Mosque, while presumably her mother prays out of sight behind a lattice.

    Ten months on, the girl has become the innocent face and figure of Australia’s 2012 religious art prize – though she may never know it.

    “The context of where she is is extremely powerful,” says the Bankstown-born, Balmain artist Fabian Astore. “That particular space would be off limits to her, I’m assuming, once she reaches puberty.”

    via 2012 Blake Prize for Religious Art Winners.

  • Competition Winners Spice it Up in Dubai and Turkey

    Competition Winners Spice it Up in Dubai and Turkey

    Purchasing hot water cylinders turned into an exciting whirlwind adventure through the souks and bazaars of Dubai and Turkey for two lucky competition winners and their travel partners.

    Matamata local Rene Thomson together with Ivan and Jess Ramsey from Rinnai (previously with HJ Cooper) and Henni and Bridget Russon from Nelson won a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity through a special promotion run by Mico Plumbing and Mastertrade for their loyal business customers.

    Their trip also included the chance to visit the state of the art factory of one the suppliers of the HJ Cooper electric hot water range just on the outskirts of Istanbul.

    Henni Russon says that visiting the factory was definitely a highlight of the trip.

    “We went on a guided tour of the whole factory which makes gas boilers, woodfire boilers, hot water cylinders, solar panels, basically everything on water heating. It was fascinating watching how all these things were put together, and checking out the whole process from start to finish. Bridget and I were beyond thrilled when we found out that we had won, and can’t speak highly enough about the trip.”

    Russon says the group spent about three days in Dubai and three days in Istanbul, where they had many exotic adventures including a desert tour, visiting mosques and other historical buildings and trying out “shisha” – an apple flavoured tobacco mix smoked through a hookah, or water pipe.

    “The highlight of the trip in Dubai was definitely the desert tour. It was hot and sandy, but you got to go in a big 4WD and drive around and at the end of the trip, they have a camp site in the middle of the desert where you stop for a barbecue meal. There were some belly dancers to provide entertainment.”

    “In Istanbul we went into some very interesting old buildings, some of which were built in 1100BC and some of them in 900BC. Our tour guide was a local and she was really great, and told us a lot about the rich culture and history of the city.”

    “We went through a record number of hot water cylinders in Motueka through our business, Henbridge Plumbing to win the prize package.

    Rene Thomson from Comag Ltd says that he was also excited and a little stunned at winning the Spice It Up competition.

    “There are eight business partners and it could potentially have been a bit of a minefield if all of us had wanted to go on the trip, but in the end, I was the only one available to go.”

    Thomson says that the highlight of the trip was definitely Turkey.

    “I really enjoyed Dubai as well, but felt that Istanbul had a pretty amazing culture. We really went into the heart of the city and explored the Grand Bazaar and the Blue Mosque, which was built around 1609 – it is a stunning piece of architecture. The Grand Bazaar was just really fun and next time I go back to Turkey, I’m bringing my wife there to do a spot of shopping!”

    The Spice It Up competition was run exclusively through Mico Plumbing and Mastertrade – with entry into the competition achieved with purchases of HJ Cooper water heating products.

    via Competition Winners Spice it Up in Dubai and Turkey | Showroom is a popular New Zealand business news source..

  • Turkey May Abandon Controversial Air Defense Program

    Turkey May Abandon Controversial Air Defense Program

    Turkey’s protracted shopping for a long-range air defense system has been a sort of geopolitical bellwether for the country: in addition to considering systems from NATO allies U.S. and Italy, Ankara has been looking at Russian and Chinese options. If it goes for the latter, NATO has reportedly promised to cut Turkey out of its air defense monitoring system. But now it looks like Turkey may be abandoning the purchase altogether, reports Defense News:

    Turkey’s highest defense body might decide to indefinitely postpone the country’s $4 billion air defense program, effectively killing it, sources and observers said.

    In addition to analysts’ criticism that the long-range air and missile defense system is too expensive, other recent developments have raised questions about the project.

    This month, for example, MBDA of Italy, one arm of bidder Eurosam, arranged a tour for several Turkish journalists to observe firing tests at two Italian land and naval installations. Turkish defense authorities at the last minute declined to permit reporters to visit the Italian sites, and MBDA had to cancel the tour.

    This led to speculation that the program was going to be canceled or indefinitely postponed.

    (Not really germane to the main point, but it’s remarkable that the Turkish government could forbid reporters from visiting Italy to see an Italian company exhibition.)

    The problem is that Turkey may not need such a system:

    Most analysts say that the system’s $4 billion cost is almost prohibitive; that it would be useless against the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party, which fights only with light weapons; and that it would take too long to complete to be of use against Syria.

    It’s not clear why those factors may have come to light only now, after years of considering this, and it could be just a feint in what seems to be an elaborate bargaining process. The next meeting of the Defense Industry Executive Committee next meets in December or January, Defense News reports, and could either pick a winner then or defer the program.

    via Turkey May Abandon Controversial Air Defense Program | EurasiaNet.org.