Turkey's election body limits recount in Istanbul

AK Party’s representative on Turkey's election board​ said that the party's appeal to cancel the election results in an Istanbul district – on grounds of "organised irregularities" – will be decided by the council after Tuesday.

Turkey’s Supreme Election Council on Monday partially rejected an appeal by the governing Justice and Development (AK) Party to recount all votes in Istanbul except for 51 ballot boxes in 21 districts.

AK Party has appealed the votes to be recounted in 32 districts in Istanbul. 

Recep Ozel, the AK Party’s representative on the election board, told reporters that the party's appeal to cancel the election results in Istanbul’s Buyukcekmece district will be decided by the council after Tuesday.

"Supreme Election Council has made its decision for 31 districts out of 32. The fate for the district of Buyukcekmece is postponed. We will discuss it after tomorrow because of other issues like votes affected in district municipality and metropolitan municipality," Ozel said.

The party is calling for a repeat of elections in the district, alleging "organised irregularities."

Ozel said the party will continue its legal efforts to contest the elections in Istanbul.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also raised concerns about "organised interference" in the Istanbul elections earlier Monday.

"We, as the political party, have detected organised crime and some organised activities," Erdogan told reporters ahead of his departure from Istanbul for Moscow.

According to unofficial results, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamoglu leads Istanbul with AK Party's candidate Binali Yildirim following closely behind.

However, the AK Party has said a recount might change the results. 

Millions of Turkish voters cast their votes nationwide end of March in the local elections to choose Turkey's mayors, city council members, neighbourhood officials and members of the elder councils for the next five years. 

According to unofficial results, the AK Party is leading in 15 metropolitan municipalities and 24 smaller cities.

Source

Nearly 1 mln tourists visit Turkey for health tourism

Turkey attracted nearly 1 million people for health tourism, said an industry official on March 19.

“Thermal tourism contributes to Turkey's economy with healing waters, as well as seas, rivers and lakes,” Yavuz Yılık, head of the Thermal Health and Tourism Association (TESTUD), told Anadolu Agency.

Yılık stressed that Turkey is one of the world's top seven countries for thermal springs, with about 1,500 natural hot spring water resources.

“Protecting our health-giving healing waters, using them properly, and passing them down to future generations with the same qualities is also important for the country's future,” he added.

Source

Indian color fest to be held in Istanbul, Ankara

Holi, also known as the festival of colors, will be held in Ankara and Istanbul this year, Indian Ambassador to Turkey Sanjay Bhattacharyya has said.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) following an Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) event in Ankara, Bhattacharyya praised the bonds of brotherhood and friendship between Turkey and India.

"Holi, the festival of colors, marks the advent of spring and the Indian new year. It is a time for all Indians, irrespective of race, religion or language, to come together to celebrate through song and dance and merriment," Bhattacharyya said.

He said younger people have more fun during the festival but everyone is welcome to take part in this joyous event. "We are collaborating with a Turkish group to celebrate Holi in Istanbul and shall also have Holi in Ankara, but a few weeks later, when the sun is warmer," the ambassador said.

He added that cultural relations between Turkey and India have grown in recent years. "Today, we do business, travel to each other's countries, eat food together and share stories of our achievements. This strengthens our friendship. We even have weddings in Antalya or Goa, a mark of the close affinity that has grown between us," he said.

Bhattacharyya said the Indian Embassy is preparing to host a cultural festival named "India by the Bosphorus" in four different Turkish cities. "Featuring the diversity of our cultural forms, the festival will build new bridges to connect our peoples closer together. Like the festival of Holi, ‘India by the Bosphorus' will bring joy and happiness to all," he added.

The ICCR is an autonomous Indian organization that actively participates in the formulation and implementation of policies and programs pertaining to India's external relations, fostering and strengthening cultural relations and people, and developing relationships between nations.

It was found by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of independent India, in 1950.

The arrivals of Indian tourists in Turkey significantly increased in 2018, skyrocketing by 80 percent compared to the previous year, Bhattacharyya has said. According to the Culture and Tourism Ministry, around 147,127 Indian tourists visited Turkey last year, up from 86,996 in 2017 and 79,316 in 2016.

Source

Why terrorism in Turkey will not have an effect on its tourism market

According to Trading Economics, the number of inbound tourists to Turkey rose to 1.95 million in December 2018, up by 14.5% from the year before, with the majority of tourists being from Bulgaria, Germany, Georgia, Iran and Russia.

Although Turkey welcomes millions of tourists each year, it is also one of the countries that suffer most from terrorist attacks. According to public sector information website gov.uk, there is a high risk of terrorism taking place in Turkey due to the high number of terrorist organisations.

Many terrorist attacks have taken place in Turkey over the past years, such as the attack in the Reina nightclub in Istanbul on 1 January 2017, the explosion close to the Besiktas football stadium in Istanbul on 10 December 2016, the bomb detonation close to the Governor’s office in Adana on 24 November 2016 and the attack at Ataturk International Airport on 28 June 2016.

These four are only a few examples of attacks that took place in the country; there are many other examples of terrorist incidents. Because Turkey can be seen as a high-risk destination, many are stating that tourist arrival numbers have dropped significantly.

According to Statista, the number of foreign tourist arrivals to Turkey in 2015 was 36,245 and then in 2016, this number significantly dropped down to 25,352. In 2017, tourist arrivals increased again, up to 32,410.

Following this, according to Turkish pro-government daily newspaper Daily Sabah, in the first few months of 2018, almost 7.8 million foreigners travelled to Turkey, and the Culture and Tourism Ministry stated that the arrivals number increased by 32.55% each year. With these statistics, it is clear that tourism can be unpredictable, with constantly changing figures.

My research

Many suggest that terrorism is the main factor that affects Turkey’s tourism market. However, through the research that I conducted throughout my final year of university, I established that there are many other factors at play and that ultimately terrorism has not, and will not, have a long-term effect on Turkey’s tourism market.

The aim of my research was to establish the extent that terrorism has affected the destination image of Turkey. I produced an online questionnaire to identify tourists’ risk perceptions and their views on destination image. With this, I came to the conclusion that whether or not the image of Turkey is affected by terrorism really depends on tourists’ risk perceptions and the level of willingness to take the risk. The destination image is complex and depends on each individual’s views on risk in terms of safety and security.

However, I found that terrorism has not really affected the image of Turkey. This is because there are more positive images associated with Turkey like weather, sun and sea, food and culture, rather than the negative factors like violence and terrorism.

The reason why I argue that terrorism has not actually affected Turkey’s tourism market is that although terrorist attacks do in fact cause tourists to avoid visiting the country in the short term, people tend to forget and move on, so, tourism always maintains its growth and is not affected in the long-term.

Although tourism is a very vulnerable industry when exposed to terrorism, it is also such a strong and powerful industry that can, after some time, recover from terrorist attacks. The media tends to dramatise negative events; however, after a while, the media turns its attention away from older events to report up-to-date news (taking into account that there are events taking place every single day in the world) and the negativity around the original issue lessens.

Overall, due to the fact that tourism is such a strong and large sector, it will always recover from terrorism; terrorism will never overpower the tourism industry of Turkey due to the potential that its tourism market has. There are several unique and positive attributes of Turkey that attract tourists, and the positive factors overshadow offputting incidents like terrorism.

This is why I strongly believe and hope that tourism will continue to grow in Turkey and will never be permanently affected by terrorism.

Source

Turkey charms more tourists from target markets in January

The number of foreign tourists visiting Turkey in January this year was 1.5 million, a rise in target tourism markets - the Far East, Europe and the Americas.

According to Culture and Tourism Ministry border entrance and exit statistics, foreign tourists in Turkey in January surged by 5.33 percent year over year, with the number of visitors from the target markets increasing by 40 percent, the ministry said in a statement.

Bulgarians led the way with 133,806 tourists - almost 9 percent of foreign visitors - followed by Georgia with 112,376 tourists, 7.3 percent of all visitors, and Germany with 102,120 tourists, 6.6 percent. Germany was followed by Iran and the Russian Federation.

The number of tourists from Taiwan increased 43.75 percent, while South Korea, the U.S., Russia and Spain increased by 42.95 percent, 42.18 percent, 34.2 percent and 29.8 percent, respectively.

The number of visitors from France increased by 18.44 percent, followed by Germany with 17.55 percent, Italy with 15.78 percent and the Netherlands with 11.75 percent. Tourists from Poland rose by 68.26 percent.

Istanbul, the largest city by population and a top tourist draw, attracted nearly 60 percent of all visitors - nearly 919,000.

The northwestern province of Edirne, which borders Bulgaria and Greece, had the second-highest number of foreigners - over 190,000 - in January, followed by the Black Sea province of Artvin, bordering Georgia, with nearly 119,000 foreigners.

Official data also showed air travel was the most popular way for foreigners to reach Turkey, with 1.1 million foreign travelers flying, while over 408,000 used roadways.

On the other hand, Turkey's holiday resort Antalya has become the most popular tourist destination for Germans, according to market researcher GfK.

Summer bookings made earlier this year showed Antalya has become the number one choice of German tourists, followed by the Spanish island of Mallorca and the Greek island of Crete, Nuremberg-based GfK said in a new report released ahead of next week's Berlin tourism fair.

Sales revenues from Turkey bookings have ballooned 58 percent, showing growing demand among German

holidaymakers for beach holidays on Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coasts.''

"Turkey is celebrating the comeback of the year," the report said, adding that it expects strong demand to continue in the coming weeks. Turkey aims to attract more than 5.5 million German tourists this year.

Turkey enjoyed a boom in foreigners last year with a double-digit increase in the number of foreign tourists and tourism income.

It welcomed 39.5 million foreigners, a 21.84 percent increase year-on-year, according to Culture and Tourism Ministry data, while the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) revealed that tourism income surged 12.3 percent to $29.5 billion.

Source

Israel reportedly restricts multiple entry of Turkish tourists to Jerusalem

Israel has restricted the entry of Turkish tourists visiting Jerusalem to once a year, the Daily Sabah reported on Friday, citing the head of a Turkish tour organisation. 

Adem Yenihayat, the head of Burak Organisation which organises tours to Jerusalem, told the Anadolu Agency that Israel prohibited multiple entries of Turks visiting the holy city and had required for those under the age of 18 to be accompanied by a parent/guardian while visiting the city. Israel has also prohibited the unfurling of a Turkish flag inside the Al Aqsa mosque, Yenihayat said. 

The relations between Turkey and Ankara has been restrained in May after Ankara recalled its ambassador to Israel and expelled the Israeli ambassador in Ankara in response to Israeli security forces killing and injuring Palestinians protesting the opening of a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. 

Turkey previously recalled its ambassador to Israel in 2010 in the wake of an incident in which Israeli security forces raided a ship belonging to a Turkish aid organisation on its way to Gaza, killing nine activists.

Source

How Cihangir cool changed Istanbul - Pamuk

The streets of Istanbul, largely empty in the wake of several terrorist attacks and the failed coup of 2016, now throng with life again, Turkish Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk said in The Telegraph.

“In spite of the political situation, the city has managed to rediscover its colours and crowds,” Pamuk wrote in the U.K. newspaper on Monday . “The Cihangir-Çukurcuma neighbourhoods where I have lived for the past 20 years are gradually coming to life. I’m pleased with these developments; it is gratifying to find that even in these dark days people from all over the world are still interested in you.”

In the 1950s, no tourist would ever visit these neighborhoods, which were predominantly Greek until the city’s Greeks were driven out in the 1960s. Back then, a local who wanted meze or a book would have to walk up to Taksim or Istiklal, recalled Pamuk.

“Today, these same streets are full of meze bars, bookshops, antiques stores, art galleries, coffee shops, design stores, junk dealers, and a proliferation of restaurants and tourists,” he wrote.

He grew up in Nişantaşı, a wealthy district near Taksim, which he hardly visits since moving to Cihangir in 1994. “When I moved there in the 90's, you could still see transvestites and sex workers out in the afternoons, doing their grocery shopping,” said Pamuk. “Then, at the start of the 2000s, the character of Cihangir was suddenly transformed.”

Publishers previously based in the old city centre, on the far side of the Golden Horn, moved to Beyoğlu, according to Pamuk. Then the advertising studios, wine shops, second-hand bookstores and cafés started appearing.

Western businesspeople, diplomats, and foreign correspondents had already begun to move to the neighbourhood, renting top-floor flats with extraordinary views of Topkapı Palace, the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Bosporus.

“At the same time a section of Istanbul’s wealthy classes realised that nowhere else would they find a more magnificent vista of the old city and of the mouth of the Bosporus, so they too moved to Cihangir,” said Pamuk.

“All this fostered the development of a relatively tolerant culture in Cihangir, diverging from the more conservative norm, in which you could have a drink outside, and buy newspapers from all over the world. For the first time in the city’s history, in keeping with this changing culture, ‘green’ restaurants appeared, fish restaurants weren’t just confined to the waterfront, cafés began serving brunch on Sundays, bars came in different types, and restaurants served modernised versions of traditional dishes, accompanying them with alcohol,” he explained.

Tiny fish restaurants popped up in narrow alleys, serving four or five tables at most. Pamuk could call in the evening and they would send over their catch of the day, grilled and with a salad on the side, he said.

“But what makes Cihangir so fascinating to me, and such a paradise for endless walks and window shopping, is the rapid transformation and expansion that Cukurcuma’s small, shabby, dirty flea market experienced in the early 2000s,” wrote Pamuk. Shops that used to sell old mattresses, broken chairs, and used jeans now offer vintage clothing and humble antiques, with an enormous selection of old photographs and ephemera.

Cihangir is situated halfway down an avenue that was meant to link Taksim to a ferry pier on the Golden Horn, but that avenue was never built, so Cihangir became a quiet place, insulated from the din of the city.

Pamuk spent a lot of time walking around the area while researching his books, and heard that silence. He recalls one spot, at the top of a stairway on a slope lined with dozing stray cats, that offered an exceptional view over the Bosporus, the Maiden’s Tower, and the Uskudar neighbourhood on the city’s Asian side.  

“I would sit at a table under one of the tall trees near the Firuz Ağa Mosque, outside a café or a flatbread shop, and quietly read my newspaper and write in my notebook,” said Pamuk. “It cheered me to see so many familiar faces around me from literary, artistic, and political circles, and to know that most of them were freedom-loving people critical of the government and sympathetic to Europe. It made me feel proud of being from Cihangir.”

Source