ISTANBUL businessmen are refusing to stump up £15million – double the cost of last year – to subsidise the Turkish Grand Prix and say the next race in a fortnight will be the last.
Istanbul businessmen are refusing to stump up £15million Read more:
But Bernie Ecclestone, who owns the circuit and is race promoter, says he wants to keep the race and believes it has a long-term future.
“It looks like the Formula One race will not be held in Istanbul next year,” said Murat Yalcintas, head of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce.
Yesterday, Ecclestone said: “The race brings a huge amount of people, trade and publicity to the city. I am a bit disappointed and I hope we can work out a deal.”
via Express.co.uk – Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | Sport | Motorsport.
IN JAIL: Murat Yalçıntaş, president of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, is seen speaking in Istanbul in this file photo. Yalçıntaş remains under arrest after a bribery scandal. AA photo
Members of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce met for the first time Thursday since the arrest of their president, Murat Yalçıntaş, in a real estate bribery scandal that erupted last month. Converging on the chamber’s headquarters, the members requested the release of their chairman even as a daily newspaper published a document that could implicate Yalçıntaş.
Şekip Avdagiç, ICOC deputy chairman, said the chamber “has full trust” in Yalçıntaş. “A group of our members visited him Wednesday. They observed that he is in good condition and that he believes in his innocence. We are sure that Yalçıntaş will be [back among us] after proving his innocence in court.”
Daily Taraf, meanwhile, published a story Thursday about a document that it claimed was a “sign of bribery” of $2 million. According to Taraf, Yalçıntaş and members of the Istanbul Word Trade Center signed a document on Nov. 14, 2008. According to the document, nearly 1.25 million Turkish Liras was allocated to lawyers as an “advance payment.”
Disputed piece of land
The bribery case involves retired and active lawyers and judges. The case involves a piece of land situated between the IWTC and the CNR Expo Center near the Atatürk Airport. According to claims, IWTC allegedly bribed judges and lawyers to obtain a ruling against CNR Expo’s claims to the land. The ICOC owns nearly 42 percent of IWTC.
The Taraf story implied that the “lawyer money” was to be allocated to distributing bribes to members of the judiciary.
The document may have created a rift within the chamber, as was evident during a video presentation for journalists Thursday. When Yalçıntaş appeared on the wide screen, only half of the audience applauded, while the other half remained silent.
“The solidarity of members toward Yalçıntaş is about to fall apart,” a board member was heard telling another member by the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review after the press conference.
ICOC’s lawyers requested the release of Yalçıntaş last week, but were rejected. “We will file the same request once more next week,” Avdagiç said.
Businessman Zafer İpekçi, meanwhile, castigated Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, chairman of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges, or TOBB. Addressing the board, İpekçi said Hisarcıklıoğlu “keeps changing his tone while talking about the arrest of our chairman.”
Noting that Sinan Aygün, the president of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, was taken into custody in 2008 over claims about the ongoing Ergenekon case, İpekçi said: “Hisarcıklıoğlu displayed support for him at that time. Why does he not show his support for our chairman?”
The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and the Italian Consulate General in Istanbul have signed an agreement to provide Turkish businessmen with visa facilities.
Monday, 15 February 2010 13:04
The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and the Italian Consulate General in Istanbul have signed an agreement to provide Turkish businessmen with visa facilities.
Under the agreement, Turkish businessmen will be able to get a five-year Schengen visa after applying to the Italian Consulate General with a recognition letter from the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce. The Schengen visa will also enable Turkish businessmen to travel to the other European countries.
Meanwhile, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Executive Board President Murat Yalcintas was awarded by the Italian president with Italy’s state medal of merit for his contributions to efforts to further improve Turkey-Italy relations. Italian Ambassador to Turkey Carlo Marsili decorated Yalcintas with the medal during the signing ceremony.
