Turkish Forum

Category: Europe

  • Hilton London Metropole Unveils $9.1M Lobby Transformation

    Hilton London Metropole Unveils $9.1M Lobby Transformation

    Hilton London MetropoleHilton London Metropole has announced that it is undergoing a major $9.1 million lobby transformation, a move expected to revolutionize the arrival experience in one of the biggest conference and events hotels in Europe. The hotel will be the first UK property to incorporate the Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand’s new lobby design narrative, which provides what was described as “smartly designed and functionally relevant lobby spaces, for guests and locals to work, socialize and enjoy”.

    According to Luxury Travel Advisort the two phase refurbishment, designed by Aukett Fitzroy Robinson, reflects the Hilton commitment to creating engaging spaces. The completed first phase sees a new lobby bar – EDG Bar & Lounge – and Whisky Lounge, while the installation of double-height glass entrances will mark the overall completion of the project in August 2013.

    Phase one was already completed.

    Ten British custom-made vanilla leather and fabric suspended lights form a focal point over the new double-height EDG Bar & Lounge, while muted grey fabrics, with splashes of yellow, adorning the venue. A feature wall behind the 20-foot long bar also forms a central part of the lobby bar and lounge design as fusions of color in night and day lighting effects are projected through cut-out sections in the wall sculpture. Free Wi-Fi and power sockets are available for guests.

    The 22-cover Whisky Lounge encompasses black and mauve-grey furnishings, with hints of dark cyan and teal. The Whisky Lounge exhibits feature lighting in the form of suspended whisky decanters, while whisky display cabinets frame and showcase a collection of whiskies from around the world.

  • Istanbul΄s Greeks want citizenship back

    Istanbul΄s Greeks want citizenship back

    The Greek population of Istanbul, which was rather forced to leave Turkey because of the sociopolitical situation, is now asking for its citizenship rights΄ restoration, daily Sunday΄s Zaman reported. Greeks in Istanbul, known as Rums (Turkey΄s Greeks), are finally given the chance to actually voice their demands thanks to recent improvements relating the minorities΄ rights.

    Talks have been carried out with government officials through the Istanbul Rums Universal Federation, established in 2005. The federation, after sending a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressing their problems and demands, also sent a written statement to the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of EU Affairs in September, 2012.

    The federation΄s head, Nikolaos Uzunoglu, presented a number of suggestions, among which were granting quick Turkish citizenship to people who would like to return, giving them orientation classes in order to help them open up small businesses and learn Turkish.

    In the beginning of March, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc highlighted to his government members the importance of improving the lives of minorities in Turkey by expanding their rights, while calling minorities to return to Turkey.

    According to Sunday΄s Zaman΄s, Uzunoglu also underlined that it is highly important for young Greeks to return to Turkey in order to keep their culture alive.

    via Istanbul΄s Greeks want citizenship back- Capital.gr.

  • Sarah Palin Calls for Invasion of Czech Republic

    Sarah Palin Calls for Invasion of Czech Republic

    Sarah Palin called for the invasion of the Czech Republic today in response to the recent terrorist attacks in Boston.

    In an interview with Fox News, the former governor of Alaska said that although federal investigators have yet to complete their work, the time for action is now.

    “We don’t know everything about these suspects yet,” Palin told Fox and Friends this morning, referring to Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who allegedly carried out the Boston Marathon attacks. “But we know they were Muslims from the Czech Republic.

    “I betcha I speak for a lot of Americans when I say I want to go over there right now and start teaching those folks a lesson. And let’s not stop at the Czech Republic, let’s go after all Arab countries.

    “The Arabians need to learn that they can’t keep comin’ over here and blowing stuff up. Let’s set off a couple of nukes in Islamabad, burn down Prague, then bomb the heck out of Tehran. We need to show them that we mean business.”

    Can’t See Russia…

    Although hosts Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson applauded Palin’s jingoism, they immediately attempted to rectify her multiple geographic errors.

    “Well Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan, which isn’t Arab,” Carlson corrected, “and Tehran is the capital of Iran, which is predominantly Persian. But I do see your point.”

    “Also Czech Republic isn’t really an Arab or even Muslim country, I don’t think,” Doocy added, “but otherwise what you’re saying makes a lot of sense. I think most Americans wish Obama would step up and lead on this one.”

    Palin, however, didn’t take kindly to being corrected and defended her analysis.

    “Steve, that’s probably one of the most ignorant things I’ve ever heard. How is Czech Republic not a Muslim country? You saw those brothers, they were Islamic and they were Chechen!”

    “Yes there were Muslim and they were ethnic Chechens,” Doocy started, “but they grew up mostly in Kyrgyzstan and the United States. And more importantly, Chechens don’t come from the Czech Republic, they come from Chechnya, which is part of Russia. ”

    “What’s the difference?” Palin responded. “Isn’t Russia part of the Czech Republic?”

    “No, the Czech Republic is a separate country. It’s part of the European Union and a strong NATO ally,” Doocy noted. “But heck, why not? Let’s invade. What could go wrong?”

    “Yeah and while we’re at it,” Carlson added, “let’s call the Queen of England and see if the U.K. will join us.”

    In a statement released after the interview, Palin attacked Fox News and its “pro-Islamic” and “pro-geography” bias.

    “This is just another case of the politically correct liberal media refusing to tell the truth about radical Islam,” she said.

  • A Cast-Iron Church In Istanbul

    by Sean McLachlan

    This church on the shoreline of Istanbul looks ornate yet pretty normal – that is until you go up and take a closer look. The Bulgarian St. Stephen Church isn’t made of stone but rather of cast iron. It’s a rare survival of a 19th-century craze in prefab cast-iron churches.Also known as the Bulgarian Iron Church, its parts were cast in Vienna in 1871 and shipped down the Danube in a hundred barges to be assembled in Istanbul. This building marks an important time in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Bulgaria and Greece were both ruled by theOttoman Empire. Bulgarian Christians were under the domain of the Greek Patriarch, but the Bulgarians complained that he favored Greeks over Bulgarians. So the Sultan granted the Bulgarians their own Exarch, giving them a religious independence that they have to this day.
    If you’re in Istanbul, head on over to this church, pull a coin out of your pocket and tap it against the wall. You’ll hear a loud ding ding ding that proves it’s really metal! Needless to say, iron buildings need love and care. Currently the building is undergoing restoration work so that it can amaze visitors and churchgoers for generations to come.

    Liverpool can boast two cast-iron churches, St. Michael’s and St. George’s, although they are only partially iron. For the full prefab effect, you need to go to Istanbul.

  • Russia, Turkey Seek to Boost Trade to $100 Bln

    Russia, Turkey Seek to Boost Trade to $100 Bln

    Tags: Alexander Novak, Taner Yildiz, Turkey, Russia

    174004727

    ANTALYA, April 20 (RIA Novosti) – Russia and Turkey are committed to expanding mutual investment and cooperation, aiming to bring bilateral trade to $100 billion, the Russian and Turkish energy ministers said on Saturday.

    The Turkish-Russian Joint Economic Committee (JEC) held its 12th Meeting in the southern province of Antalya with the participation of Turkish Energy and Natural Sources Minister Taner Yildiz and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.

    Yildiz said there is good potential to increase the volume of trade from the current $34 billion to $100 billion.

    Around 1,500 Russian companies currently operate in Turkey while Turkish contractors are involved in projects in Russia worth a total of $50 billion, he said, according to the Hurriyet daily.

    He also said Turkish-Russian cooperation could continue in third countries.

    Yildiz and Novak signed a JEC protocol prioritizing the diversification and expansion of bilateral trade and the creation of an investor-friendly environment in order to achieve the $100 billion target.

  • Syria opposition must distance itself from “terrorists:” Germany

    Syria opposition must distance itself from “terrorists:” Germany

    Reuters
    Syria opposition must distance itself from “terrorists:” Germany
    Sat Apr 20 16:29:00 UTC 2013
    ISTANBUL (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Saturday the Syrian opposition must distance itself from extremist forces and he said Germany was skeptical about supplying weapons to the rebels.”We expect from the opposition that they clearly distance themselves in Syria from terrorist and extremist forces,” Westerwelle told reporters in Istanbul at a meeting of Syrian opposition leaders and their international backers.

    “We are skeptical as the German government when it comes to delivering weapons because we are concerned that weapons could fall into the wrong, namely extremist, hands, but it is a matter that must now be discussed in the European Union.”

    A U.S. official said on Friday Washington planned to provide about $100 million in new non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition that could include for the first time battlefield support equipment such as body armor and night-vision goggles.

    Secretary of State John Kerry was expected to announce the new aid package, which would mark a recalibration of U.S. policy toward Syrian rebel groups at Saturday’s meeting. Fresh U.S. humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees is also likely.

    The new assistance would stop short of supplying weapons to rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It is also far less than what is sought by Syrian opposition leaders, U.S. allies Britain and France and some U.S. lawmakers.

    The 11-nation “core group” of the Friends of Syria, including the United States, European and Arab nations, has been deadlocked over how to remove Assad, whose security forces killed and arrested thousands of protesters who took to the streets to demand democratic reforms in March 2011.

    Syria’s opposition has said it hopes the Istanbul meeting will give teeth to a tacit agreement that arming rebel groups is the best way to end Assad’s rule.

    More than 70,000 have been killed in the revolt and subsequent civil war. But a military stalemate has set in and much of Syria is left in ruins because of a divided and ineffective opposition, a lack of action by foreign allies and Assad’s ability to rely on support from Russia and Iran.

    (Reporting by Nick Tattersall; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Stephen Powell)