No:95 MAY/JUNE'07 - S&M Publication ltd

Turkey’s delegation to an internationaltravel fair received the best group participationaward. The award from theOutbound Travel Mart 2007, held inIndia’s Mumbai Feb.10-12, was givento Culture and Tourism Ministry officialsby the finance minister of the Indian stateof Kashmir, Muzaffar Hussain Baig,at a ceremony during the fair. Turkey’sdelegation to the fair, held at the GrandHyatt Exhibition Grounds in Mumbai,consisted of representatives from 280institutions as well as ministry officials,according to the Culture and TourismMinistry. Information was provided aboutTurkey’s cultural and natural wealth,with promotional brochures preparedby the ministry and souvenirs peculiarto Turkey handed out during the event,which attracted around 15,000 visitors.Visitors showed particular interest inbrochures on Istanbul , the Marmararegion and Cappadocia, reported theAnatolia news agency. The fair alsohad a second leg in New Delhi Feb.16-18 and a reduced delegation, includingrepresentatives of around 220 institutionsand ministry officials, attended thefair, visited by nearly 12,000 people.Belek Tourism Investors Union (Betuyab)organized its General Assemblyfor 2007 at Ankara AmbassadorHotel. Cemil Ugurlu has re-electedas President of 2007. The new boardmembers of Betuyab is below,“10th International MediterraneanYouth Festival” organized by AkdenizUniversity (AU) will kick off in southerncity of Antalya , on May 1st. Releasinga statement, AU Rector Prof. Dr. MustafaAkaydin noted that the university, celebratingits 25th anniversary this year,is a dynamic institution which aims tocontribute to social, cultural, economicand scientific projects. Akaydin statedthat the university has been organizingthe International Youth Festival sincePresident:CemilUgurluVice President: Ismet GüralVice President: Mustafa NazikHayrettin ÖzaltinSezai BacaksizYusuf HacisüleymanAli ÖzdoganMehmet ErsoyAhmet Akbalik1997, noting that it would be heldbetween May 1st and 5th, this year.“This year the theme of the festival willbe gypsy culture. 40-45 million gypsiesare living in the world and nearlyone million of them are in Turkey . Wewant to create a climate where theycan boost their culture constructively,”Akaydin remarked. He added that 690undergraduates from 16 Turkish and11 foreign universities would participatein the festival this year.Big travel agencies in Belgium state thatthe number one preference of Belgiantourists is Turkey in 2007 and that thereis a 100 percent increase in the rate ofBelgian people, who made reservationto come to Turkey, compared to lastyear. Travel agencies that made a statementbefore the Easter holiday, saythat there is a 20-25 percent increasein reservations for Morocco, Tunisiaand France and there is an “explosion”in reservations for Turkey. They say Turkey,which was affected by the problemof bird flu in 2006, is popular thisyear and Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia,which imitated Turkey in their tourismattempt, are also successful. Belgianairline companies say their flights toTurkey for the summer season are alreadybooked. It is reported that 400-500,000 tourists are coming to Turkeyfrom Belgium, which has a populationof nearly 10 million.“ Istanbul Culture Days” in another Mediterraneancountry, Spain , attracteda great deal of attention with a seriesof activities last week. Istanbul CultureDays in Andalusia was organized inSpain jointly by the Greater IstanbulMunicipality and a Seville-based culturefoundation, a statement by the GreaterIstanbul Municipality said. As partof the activities, Turkish director DervisZaim’s film titled “Tabutta Rövasata”(Somersault in a Coffin) was screenedon Feb. 24, the first day of the event.Following the film, the Istanbul SufismMusic Ensemble performed a MevleviSema dance, selling all tickets for bothevents, and the focus of attraction bySpanish audiences. A statement saidan exhibition titled “Panoramic IstanbulPhotographs” by Orhan Durgut openedat the event, which also exhibiteda mini marble display by marble artistEray Atay. The audience also receivedinformation from the artist about marbleart. Further films were scheduled withinthe program where Çagan Irmak’s“Babam ve Oglum” (My Father and MySon), Yavuz Turgul’s “Gönül Yarasi”(Lovelorn) and Reha Erdem’s “KorkuyorumAnne” (Mom, I am scared) will beshown. A conference hosted by academicHadi Adanali as well as poetry readingby Adnan Özer’s are also somethe activities at the event which will runthrough March 2.