The Middle East

Over the past decade, Turkey has experienced a number of important transitions that have led to demographic, economic and cultural transformation. These changes have made contemporary Turkey a regional focal point that many Turks regard as an extension of its influence in Ottoman times. Following the onset of a devastating banking crisis and...

As elsewhere, a long-term trend in Turkish advertising has been the relentless rise of digital and internet-based platforms increasing the pressure for new ad spend. These platforms are ever more mobile, as smartphones and tablets replace desktops and laptops.

Over the course of 2011, Turkey saw a significant increase in deal transactions, both numerically and in terms of volume, and the outlook for the remainder of 2012 is very positive indeed. Some 74% of the deals in 2011, by value, involved foreign investors, representing a significant recovery from 2010, when only 36% of deals involved an...

Beamed onto TV screens across the Middle East, the Balkans and beyond, modern Turkish culture – particularly in the form of soap operas – has never been so popular. Indeed, Turkish soaps have been held responsible by many for the rise of the country’s “soft power” – and for surging tourism to Turkey, as fans come to visit the haunts of their TV...

An unassuming, 20-metre hill, some 15 km north-east of Şanl›urfain South-east Turkey, seems a rather unusual place to be sending the archaeological world into a spin. Yet Göbekli Tepe, located at the northern end of what the ancients called the Fertile Crescent, is currently doing just that.

Foreign direct investment to Turkey totalled $74.8bn in the past five years. This is mostly due to the business-friendly environment prevailing in the country and the government’s continuous efforts to incentivise investments by both local and international investors.