Turkish Forum

Tag: Istanbul

  • Air France Connects Istanbul with Marseille

    Air France Connects Istanbul with Marseille

    Published by Ozgur Tore

    Air France announced that carrier will start flying between Istanbul and Marseille.

    airfrance a330The flights to the second biggest city of France will be the second direct flights Air France operates from Istanbul after Paris route.

    Air France connects Marseille – the biggest city of Southern France & the heart of Cote d’Azur – to Istanbul with 4 flights a week which will be on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Istanbul Ataturk to Marseilles Airport.

    Istanbul – Marseille flights will start to operate as of 2 October 2011.

    On departure from Istanbul, Air France will offer Voyageur (economy) Class services with one-way fares starting at 65 € including tax, even without any additional costs or fees! Tickets can be purchased as one-way tickets online, by phone, at Air France ticket offices or from your travel agent as from today!

    via Air France Connects Istanbul with Marseille.

  • Modern Istanbul: nightlife alongside the Bosphorus

    Modern Istanbul: nightlife alongside the Bosphorus

    An evening stroll along the banks of the Bosphorus is enough to make you to fall in love with Istanbul. The water reflects the golden domes of the city’s mosques and palaces, the windows of Ottoman houses sparkle and light pours through the lattice of the Galata bridge.

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    A thousand scents and fragrances entice the traveler and a thousand more await you as you pause for a drink or a thick Turkish coffee on one of the numerous terraces overlooking the Canal. Here, exotic oriental luxury meets and mingles with the most sophisticated of modern Europe.

    The Bosphorus Strait – the silver band of water that links the Black Sea to the Marmara and separates Europe from Asia – is also a perfect starting point to discover the Turkish capital’s most exclusive venues. This stylish face of Istanbul leaves behind the city’s traditional tourist attractions and is reflected in new emerging neighborhoods. From the vibrant bustle of Taksim Square, to the bohemian charm of Ortakoy, through the neighbourhoods of Nisantasi and Bebek Yenikoy overlooking the sea, the signs of up-to-the-minute Istanbul are all around.

    On Ortakoy pier, under the Bosphorus Bridge and between multicoloured wooden houses and unique craft shops, are hidden some of the capital’s best terraces. Don’t miss The House Cafe, an ideal spot for relaxing over a drink, reading the newspaper or just to be seen among the beautiful people of the city. And if you want to rub shoulders with the aristocracy of Europe, drop by the legendary Reina, a restaurant lounge where the creme de la creme are often to be found at the weekend.

    Situated in the lush gardens of the Sakip Sabanci Museum, the award-winning ‘glass-box’ building of Muzedechanga restaurant overlooks the Bosphorus. Another location offering a fine view over the strait is 360, an ultra-modern space with a stylish chill-out area looking out over the water.

    Other unmissable terraces include the classy A’jia hotel , Anjelique, Vogue and Dilara Abracadabra, a perfect example of Istanbul’s young, dynamic culture. This multi-space food-art project, where breakfast is to be enjoyed, lunch to be lingered over and dinner the tastiest pre-cursor to a night on the town not only caters for the comfort of your stomach, but offers culture and art for the mind and spirit. The three-storey mansion on the shores of the Bosphorus is a splendid setting to abandon any preconceptions you might have had about the city.

    THE PRACTICALITIES

    Where to stay

    The Kempinsk Ciragan Palace, on the shore of the Bosphorus, was once a sultan’s palace and today is a luxury hotel frequented by the world’s rich and famous when they visit Istanbul. For lovers of design, W Istanbul blends luxury and modern style in a restored Ottoman mansion. Dating from the nineteenth century, when it was built to suit the sophisticated tastes of travellers on the Orient Express, the Pera Palace Hotel, has recently been completely renovated, and you can even stay in room 411 where Agatha Christie is said to have written her classic murder story. If money is no object, one of the ten suites of Les Ottomans, could be just what you’re looking for; an overnight stay can cost a thousand euros, but the spa has more moderate prices and there’s another splendid terrace, too, overlooking the Bosphorus. The tasteful restoration of the Lush Hotel makes this centennial building an interesting option, with its unbeatable central location, eclectic decor and personalised service.

    Getting around

    Arm yourself with patience: the traffic can be trying and not all taxi drivers are honest, although taxis are still affordable.

    Where to eat

    Hande Bozdogan, chef at Enstitu studied cuisine in France and returned to Istanbul ready to present the best of both worlds; the results don’t disappoint: in an elegant ambience the dishes are brimful of freshness with subtle and delicate flavours released with every bite. Konyali Lokantasi, a reinvented classic, offers high quality traditional Turkish cuisine in the Topkapi Palace; if possible, choose to eat out on the magnificent terrace.

    Don’t miss

    The Sultanahmet district, full of architectural treasures such as the Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern and Topkapi Palace. No trip to Istanbul would be complete without a foray into the labyrinthine Grand Bazaar, a real pleasure for those who enjoy haggling for bargains and the perfect setting to get an understanding of the commercial spirit of this crossroads between cultures and continents. Perhaps the best way to step back and appreciate Istanbul is by taking a cruise on the calm waters of the Bosphorus when the setting sun illuminates this city and its blend of exoticism and modernity.

    Further information:

    Turkish Tourist Board

    via Modern Istanbul: nightlife alongside the Bosphorus.

  • Mixed-Use Zorlu Center Raises Stakes in Istanbul

    Mixed-Use Zorlu Center Raises Stakes in Istanbul

    By JON GORVETT

    Published: July 14, 2011

    15iht reistanbul articleLarge

    Zorlu Property

    A rendering of the Zorlu Center, a mixed-use extravaganza rising in Zincirlikuyu, on the city’s European shores.

    ISTANBUL — While Istanbul is often described as a city of contradictions — somehow growing both more Western and more Eastern, more open and more closed — only a few real estate projects have seized on these contrasts as the foundation of a development philosophy.

    One that has is the Zorlu Center, a mixed-use extravaganza rising in Zincirlikuyu, on the city’s European shores. This four-tower, five-function and two-theater project aims to provide the city’s most luxurious apartments as well as entertainment for people without a lira to spend.

    The Center, scheduled to open by the end of next year, also illustrates the continued dynamism of Istanbul’s high-end real estate market — and of Turkey’s robust economy, scarcely affected by the global downturn that has flattened its neighbor, Greece.

    The Center site, which totals 102,000 square meters, or almost 1.1 million square feet, was bought in 2007 for $800 million by Zorlu Property, part of the Zorlu Group, now one of the largest conglomerates in Turkey and in Europe. When the project is complete, Zorlu Property says, the company will have invested more than $2.5 billion. (In Turkey, top-end real estate generally is priced in U.S. dollars.)

    The residential units in the Center, which will vary from 117 square meters to 733 square meters, are selling at $9,500 to $18,000 per square meter, depending on the type of apartment and the view, although the developers think demand will push prices for the best units to $20,000 per square meter by the time the apartments are ready for occupancy at the end of 2012.

    If the prediction is accurate, that would put the Center’s top prices at the low end of the world’s most expensive residential range. Knight Frank real estate said that, for January 2011, luxury prices in Hong Kong were $30,677 per square meter; in London, $26,328; and in New York, $22,614.

    The development seems to be affecting surrounding areas, too. Data from Colliers International real estate brokers show that districts around the Center now command $7,500 to $10,000 per square meter in next-door Etiler and around $6,000 per square meter in nearby Levent.

    “Until recently, we’ve all been wondering how far up prices could go,” said Mehmet Even, an assistant general manager at Zorlu Property. “Istanbul has been basically a wealthy place for hundreds of years, although admittedly, the last century has been a bit quiet. Now, though, it’s definitely taking off again.”

    The project, so far advertised only by word of mouth and its towers’ growing outlines on the city skyline, has sold 30 percent of its residential units since pre-construction sales began in October 2010.

    Location, of course, is everything. Zincirlikuyu is a place where a jumble of highways from Asia and Europe intersect, before heading off again into the central business district, the upmarket residential region of Etiler and the older commercial and residential venues of Nisantasi, Taksim and Besiktas.

    “What we’re trying to do here is create a private place that is also very much a public part of Istanbul,” said Mehmet Emre Zorlu, a board member of Zorlu Property Group who, born in 1984, also is a good example of the growing number of youthful businesspeople in this ancient city.

    To achieve that goal, the architects Emre Arolat and Murat Tabanlioglu — the Turkish winners of an international competition for the design — have created a south-facing terrace overlooking the Bosporus, partly as a level surface for construction and partly as a public gathering area. On this terrace, “we have a hard shell that evolves into a soft and green hill,” Mr. Arolat said.

    Four towers rise from the terrace, including the residential development, a $175 million Raffles Hotel and spa, and around 22,000 square meters of office space. There also will be a shopping center, with parking and access roads created below ground level at a cost of $100 million.

    via Mixed-Use Zorlu Center Raises Stakes in Istanbul – NYTimes.com.

  • Will Istanbul Ever Be a Part of the European Union?

    Will Istanbul Ever Be a Part of the European Union?

    Post by Haroon Moghul

    A thought that immediately occurred to me as we crossed back from Asia to Europe last night after dinner: Istanbul will never be a part of the European Union. It doesn’t fit. (In writing this, a thought subsequently occurred to me: that sounded eerily like something Thomas Friedman would write.)

    Istanbul’s the only city of its size, prestige and power in a vast area of the planet—you have to go to Moscow in the north, probably Dubai in the south, central Europe in the west and probably India in the east to get this kind of economic power. It doesn’t deserve to be second fiddle to anyone, and with Turkey’s rise, I can see it playing a global role, in the near future, commensurate with its historic one.

    At the moment I’m overlooking the last stop on the European rail network. From here, you can go all the way to London. There’s another rail station on the Asian side of Istanbul, and a long-running project aims to connect the two with a multi-billion-dollar underwater tunnel system. Everywhere we go things are under construction.

    The city is unbelievably old, assured of its place in history, but newly unpolished and young, bursting with energy, and still trying to figure itself out. You could see why a world conqueror would make this place his capital, as Constantine did in the 4th century, and Muhammad al-Fatih did some 1,100 years later. Just saying that is impressive. It’s the kind of line tour guides love.

    Yet its robust religious life seems out of place in Europe, and that makes a lot of Europeans uncomfortable. I see a lot of young folks in mosques, a tremendous change from my first visit here, in the 1990s. There’s also ambition here, more doing than realizing what’s being done, a Turkish confidence that wants their country to be a player in the world.

    Unless the European Union recognizes that, and accords Turkey a place respectful not of where it is, but where it has been, and where it could go, no political process would work. And if current European Union citizens seem disinclined to accept Turkey, then that too is their right—a meaningful political union cannot be founded merely on economic ties.

    But it’s another point that’s more relevant: there are more people in Istanbul than in all of Greece. Let’s say Turkish membership talks go forward, and enough Europeans are convinced Turkey won’t dilute whatever it is they want Europe to be. By the time Europe gets over its economic crisis and Turkey clears its hurdles, this country may well be more populous than Germany, making it the largest in the EU.

    Would Europe be okay with that?

    The Turks I’ve talked to so far, an admittedly small sample, generally feel Europe will accept them, because it must. Perhaps this is wishful thinking. But perhaps it’s something more: a feeling that they’re going somewhere good, and everyone will have to deal with that reality. How can Turkey not, they wonder, be accepted by Europe—as an equal?

    via Will Istanbul Ever Be a Part of the European Union? | Religion Dispatches.

  • Edward Stourton’s Istanbul – Telegraph

    Edward Stourton’s Istanbul – Telegraph

    The broadcaster Edward Stourton explains his love of Istanbul in Turkey, ‘one of the world’s great cities’.

    WHY ISTANBUL?

    When I first visited in the Seventies it seemed a rather sad place. But it’s back to what it ought to be: one of the world’s great cities.

    It’s not the first time that Istanbul has gone from being the centre of the world to fading away again – but it’s good to see this crossroads between East and West, on the Bosporus, back in business. The only sad thing is that the city’s Christian culture has more or less died.

    ANYTHING SPECIAL I SHOULD PACK?

    Oddly enough, probably an umbrella. One of the surprising things about Istanbul is that you think it’s going to be sunny all the time, but it rains a lot, which may help explain the city’s slight air of melancholy. However, it can be very beautiful in the rain.

    WHAT’S THE FIRST THING YOU DO?

    I always go to have a look at the Hagia Sophia, which was originally built as a church in the fourth century, became a mosque when the Ottomans took over Constantinople, and is now a museum. It’s an incredible building and the sheer scale of the place takes your breath away. An absolute must-see.

    WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO STAY?

    The Ayasofya Mansions (0090 212 513 3660; www.ayasofyakonaklari.com; doubles from €170/£150), which boasts a great location close to some of the city’s most important landmarks.

    WHERE WOULD YOU MEET FRIENDS FOR A DRINK?

    I can’t think of a particular bar but there are lots of trendy cafés and bistros in Ortaköy, one of the city’s trendiest areas, lying on the European side of the Bosporus.

    WHICH IS THE BEST PLACE FOR LUNCH?

    I like the Ayasofya Mansions’ courtyard restaurant, which is quiet and shady and has a rather beautiful little garden.

    AND FOR DINNER?

    There’s a very nice restaurant called Rami (517 6593; www.ramirestaurant.com), named after a painter, which serves very good traditional Turkish food in an old-fashioned Ottoman-like setting.

    WHERE WOULD YOU SEND A FIRST-TIME VISITOR?

    The Basilica Cistern, the largest and most impressive of the ancient cisterns beneath the city. The huge subterranean system, with its arched columns, dates back to Roman times and has to be seen to be believed.

    WHAT SHOULD I AVOID?

    It’s a pretty safe city and I’ve never had any trouble there. But the traffic is utterly appalling – so my advice is to use the trams, or the boats where possible.

    WHAT SHOULD I BRING HOME?

    If you go to the Grand Bazaar – imagine a type of vast ancient shopping mall – you can buy anything from spices to carpet and jewellery. The last time I was there I bought a page from an illuminated 19th-century book.

    IS THERE ANYWHERE THAT ISN’T YOUR KIND OF TOWN?

    Among my least favourite places are Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta, where kidnappings are all too common, and – at the other extreme – Los Angeles, which I’ve always felt was pretty heartless and horrible.

    * ‘Diary of a Dog Walker: Time Spent Following a Lead’, by Edward Stourton, is out now (Doubleday, £12.99).

    Istanbul essentials

    Getting there

    British Airways (0844 493 0787; www.ba.com) has flights from Heathrow to Istanbul from £331, Turkish Airlines (0844 800 6666; www.turkishairlines.com) from £399 and easyJet (0843 104 5000; www.easyjet.com) from Luton to Istanbul (Sabiha Gokcen) from £333.

    Packages

    Original Travel (0207 978 7333; www.originaltravel.co.uk) has three nights at the Sofa Hotel in a Tranquility room with breakfast including return flights to Istanbul, plus a full day with your own private guide, from £620.

    Getting around

    Take the tram, or rather travel on an old-fashioned one, the Istiklal Caddesi Tram, which runs between Tunel station and Taksim Square (every 15 minutes; tickets about 50p); ticket collectors were traditional uniforms in keeping with the 19th century style of transport.

    Teatime

    Take afternoon tea listening to the piano in the elaborate Kubbeli Saloon at the Pera Palas Hotel (377 4000; www.perapalace.com). The hotel dates back to the late 19th century and was built to accommodate passengers from the Orient Express; the place still oozes a sense of history. There are also some delicious pastries and cakes available at the French-style Patisserie Pera.

    Art world

    The Istanbul Modern (334 7300; www.istanbulmodern.org) has been suggested as the city’s answer to the Tate Modern. New Works, New Horizons shows the evolution of contemporary and modern Turkish art; currently this is also Paradise Lost, a collection of photographs showing how ecological changes have affected the world in recent years.

    Street walking

    Head down the elegant Istiklal Caddesi which houses a fine collection of palaces, churches and shops. Among them are the Divan Literature Museum, St Mary Draperis (which dates from 1789), St Antoine and the Renaissance-style British Consulate. If it’s food you require, try Nevizade Sokak, a street dedicated to fish restaurants.

    via Edward Stourton’s Istanbul – Telegraph.

  • Gulf Photo Plus to hold photo tour of Istanbul

    Gulf Photo Plus to hold photo tour of Istanbul

    PhotoGulf Photo Plus (GPP), a leading photography event organiser, will offer an opportunity to produce stunning travel portraits and photographs of the natural and urban landscape of Istanbul in an upcoming photo tour.

    The new five-day Gulf Photo Plus “Faces & Places” photo tour of Istanbul will be hosted from November 8 to 12 by visiting international photography gurus Bobbi Lane and David Nightingale.

    “We received tremendous feedback on the first photo tour to Muscat. The interest in other destinations in the region was overwhelming, so we decided to push ahead and take Faces and Places to Istanbul,” said Mohamed Somji, director, Gulf Photo Plus.

    “The photo tours offer a wonderful opportunity for keen photographers to combine a holiday with a learning experience designed to refine their existing skills with expert guidance, develop new techniques based on critiques and feedback from Bobbi and David.”

    The photo tour is a fully planned and scheduled travel photography trip including portraits, street scenes, landscape and night photography with instruction from world-class instructors to improve shooting, composition and observation techniques.

    The instructors Bobbi Lane and David Nightingale are regulars in Dubai, having been involved with Gulf Photo Plus for several years.

    Lane is a commercial photographer specializing in creative portraits in studio and on location. She is a dedicated photo-educator and brings more than 30 years of technical experience and innovative artistic interpretation to her fun-filled workshops.

    Nightingale is a published author and creative director of Chromasia, a fine arts and commercial photography company, who works with the intelligent application of photo enhancing techniques.

    “We want the participants to be able to tell a story through their photography and learn tips and tricks to get that postcard-perfect ‘best’ shot and that’s where the instructors come in. They’ll encourage individuals to get out of their comfort zone and try something new, to look at composition in a different way, and explore creativity,” said Mohamed.

    Each participant in the Gulf Photo Plus Faces & Places Istanbul photo tour is guaranteed to come away with a varied portfolio of shots, comprising street photography, incredible landscapes and expressive portraits, a statement said.

    Students will be encouraged to complete their learning experience with the valuable exercise of producing a photo essay of their trip to Istanbul, which will later be exhibited by Gulf Photo Plus. – TradeArabia News Service