Tourism-Travel-Cultural-History News etc

[Attila the Hun]

Renowned hotel chain enters European market after Nef project in Bodrum

Banyan Tree, which operates hotels and holiday villages in important destinations such as Phuket, Maldives, the Seychelles and Bali, has come to Turkey with the Nef Yalıkavak project, thus entering the European market for the first time.

Nef Gayrimenkul entered Bodrum with the Nef Yalıkavak project in collaboration with Banyan Tree, the world's leading ultra-luxury hotel chain that will operate the 300 million-euro project including 389 villas and residences. With more than 40 hotels and holiday villages in 28 different countries in Asia, America, Africa and the Middle East, Banyan Tree entered the European market for the first time. The Banyan Tree brand reached a 10+10-year contract with Nef.

Banyan tree is the world's leading premium resort, hotel, residence and spa operator and developer with 66 spa centers, 80 stores and three golf courses in addition to hotels and holiday villages in important destinations such as Phuket, Maldives, Seychelles and Bali.

Banyan Tree Hotel, which has 30 private residences with 70 rooms, will start welcoming guests in the summer of 2019.

With regards to the negotiation process surrounding the Bodrum Banyan Hotel to be realized after a 35 million-euro investment, Nef Chairman Erdem Timur said, "We started negotiations before July 15, and we were supposed to hold our first meeting on July 21. However, due to Banyan Tree's confidence in Turkey and its long-term plans, July 15 did not affect our agreement process. In October 2016, we reached a 20-year contract."

Stating that Banyan Tree is strong in the Chinese and the Middle Eastern markets, Timur said that thanks to this cooperation, wealthy Asian tourists will come to Bodrum. He also said that Banyan Tree will take over the operation of 30 private residences to be located in the project.

"The Banyan Tree Hotel will be opened in the summer of 2019 and we plan to deliver it in the summer of 2018," he said, adding that they want to break down the perception that only local tourists come to Bodrum. He explained that an investor who purchases a residence in Banyan Tree can stay in Bodrum for a certain period of time every year, and at other times they can give their house to the operation of Banyan Tree and earn income.

The Nef chairman also added that instead of staying in Bodrum, the resident can stay in other places like Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico and Maldives where Banyan Tree is located.

Timur said that they have already sold 120 out of the 359 independent units to their customers.

"This sales rate, which has been achieved without sales even starting, has yet to be recorded among the projects that have been realized in Bodrum," he said. The launch of the Nef Yalıkavak project will take place on May 19.

Noting that the average square meter sale price of the residences and villas in the project will vary from 3,750 euros to 4,500 euros, Timur said that the smallest independent unit will be 89 square meters and the price will start at 365,000 euros. The 116-acre project, surrounded by the sea on three sides, is a seafront with a 460-meter-long coastline and 2,000 square meters of sandy beach.

The Nef Yalıkavak project, which includes green terraces and roofs, a private interior garden and green space for each villa with energy saving technology, was designed by Torti Gallas, the architect of the Kemer Country.

https://www.dailysabah.com/tourism/...s-european-market-after-nef-project-in-bodrum

 

[Attila the Hun]

Series of negligence haunts recovered 2,700-year-old Hittite stela

series of negligent events regarding a 2,700-year-old Hittite stela over the course of a year demonstrated the ways in which Turkey still needs to adopt consistent and more effective measures in protecting its rich cultural heritage.

The stela, belonging to the late Hittite era between the 7th and 8th century B.C., was initially found in a construction site in the Ereğli district of central Konya province. It was concluded that the stela bore significant archaeological importance as it resembles to the Ivriz Rock Relief, another Hittite-era landmark that is known to be the world's first relief monument located some 12 kilometers away from the construction site.

However, after its discovery the stela suddenly disappeared. Upon rumors that the stela was sold for six million Turkish liras ($1.67 million) in the southern province of Adana, the prosecutor's office launched an investigation into the fate of the artifact.

The investigation determined that instead of handing the stela to museum authorities, the official of the firm that carried out the excavation confessed to burying the artifact in the front yard of their office, likely with the intention to recover it and sell later.

The contractor and the excavation firm official were detained for further investigation and museum officials were notified of the incident.

However, the stela's mistreatment did not come to an end upon its recovery, as it was unearthed from the front yard using heavy equipment, causing various portions of it to break. When experts compared the stela's first image after discovery with images after its recovery from the yard, they noted that lower portions of a king figure on the right were broken, while the figure on the left and the decorative parts surrounding the artifact were also damaged.

When the stela was transferred to the museum, the artifact was subject to more ill treatment, as the earth surrounding the artifact was cleaned away using a plastic litter brush instead of the typical practice of experts removing it with a hairbrush.

Despite efforts by municipal and security authorities, illegal excavation and smuggling of historical artifacts continues to remain an important issue in Turkey.

https://www.dailysabah.com/history/...-haunts-recovered-2700-year-old-hittite-stela

 

[Attila the Hun]

Ancient sarcophagus discovered during road work in Istanbul's Tuzla

Construction workers have found an ancient sarcophagus during road work in Istanbul's Tuzla district, reports said Tuesday.

According to reports, an excavator's scoop got stuck on an object as it was doing road work on Tersaneler Avenue in Tuzla. Construction workers discovered that the object was an ancient sarcophagus and immediately informed the police.

The police then cordoned off the area as part of security measures to ensure safety of the sarcophagus and informed officials from the Directorate of Istanbul Archaeology Museums.

Archeologists reportedly took samples from the sarcophagus for further research, but did not make a statement regarding its details.

The discovery of ancient sarcophagi and other artifacts frequently happens in Turkey, which has historically been a home to many civilizations.

For instance, in September 2016, municipal workers trying to fix broken water pipes in Turkey's northwestern Çanakkale province found three ancient sarcophagi and gold jewellery from the 8th century B.C.

Also around the same period, a police team investigating a case of a stolen vehicle discovered an ancient Roman sarcophagus in Hisardere near Iznik, Bursa province, north-west Turkey. Upon excavation of the object it was possible to date the find to the 2nd century AD.

https://www.dailysabah.com/istanbul...iscovered-during-road-work-in-istanbuls-tuzla

 

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[Attila the Hun]

Ancient Lycian sepulcher discovered in Turkey's Antalya

A 2,400-year-old Lycian sepulcher was discovered during excavations in Turkey's southern Antalya province, near the home of Saint Nicholas of Myra, also known as Santa Claus.

Workers carrying out excavations at private land near Köşkerler neighborhood found the ancient sepulcher and immediately informed authorities upon the discovery.

Nuri Bilgiç, who was operating the construction equipment at the site called gendarmerie forces, who then sought assistance from Demre Lycian Civilizations Museum, Doğan News Agency (DHA) reported.

Museum director Nilüfer Sezgin arrived at the site with a team of three archaeologists and eight workers, who launched excavations to unearth the sepulcher.

The sepulcher measuring five meters in length and four meters in width, is very similar to the sepulchers discovered near the ancient city of Myra, Sezgin said.

She noted that the sepulcher had a single chamber with three lids and was most likely swallowed by alluvium after the Myros streamlet overflew in the sixth century A.D.

Museum officials said that excavations will continue around the site to see if there are any other sepulchers or artifacts.

https://www.dailysabah.com/history/2017/11/06/ancient-lycian-sepulcher-discovered-in-turkeys-antalya

 

[Solomon2]

I don’t have time to talk to you
JULY 5, 2018, 9:15 PM

Back in the summer of 1962, waiting to start university, I took myself off for a few weeks in Turkey. Early in the morning, on my first day in Istanbul, I walked into the medieval Grand Bazaar. Feeling a little lost in this strange and totally unfamiliar city, I asked a stall-holder how to find the Blue Mosque. “I don’t have time to talk to you,” he said, “but I’ll point you in the right direction”. Leaving his stall unattended, he started off into the tangled web of streets. We walked quickly and some ten minutes later arrived at Sultan Ahmet, the Blue Mosque.

“I don’t have time for this,” said the stall-holder, “but it’s a very large mosque, you might get lost.”

After a full tour of the mosque, my new-found friend looked at his watch. “I’m a busy man, I can’t waste my time with you. But, you must see the Basilica Cistern; you haven’t been to Istanbul if you haven’t seen the Basilica Cistern.”

We finally parted company around five o’clock after an exhausting day seeing as many of Istanbul’s sights as possible. His last words – “I really don’t have time for you,” have echoed over the years.

I have returned to Turkey many times and have found my way from Izmir on the Mediterranean to Kars on the border with Armenia, from Trabzon on the Black Sea to Iskenderun on the border with Syria. From huge, over-populated, cities to small villages, the Turks were all friendly, outgoing people, delighted to meet a tourist who could manage half-a-dozen words in Turkish.

My last visit was in 2006. I was in a small field, high on the cliffs not far from Antalya. Together with a handful of other hopefuls, I waited to see a total eclipse of the sun. With a cloudless sky, we watched the sun disappear behind the moon. A few minutes later, as the light returned, a woman in traditional Turkish peasant dress came out of the nearby farmhouse carrying a large tray laden with humous and pitot. Smart, we thought, good business sense to make some money from the eclipse. But we had forgotten that we were in Turkey. Turkish logic was clear: if we were in her field, we must be her guests. Payment for the delicious snack was out of the question.

With Tayyip Erdogan overturning the last remnants of Kemal Atatürk’s political and cultural reforms that built a modern democratic and secular state on the ruins of the decrepit Ottoman Empire, I wonder how my stall-holder friend would greet me today. The English schoolboy is now a proud Israeli grandfather. Erdogan, strongly anti-Israel, if not downright anti-Semitic, has brought great prosperity to Turkey since he came to power in 2002.

In 1962, most English people would have had difficulty in placing Turkey on a map. Certainly, none would have thought of visiting this forgotten land. Now Turkey gets nearly forty million tourists a year.

In 1962, the Turkish Lira was worthless, and Turkey’s main product was Lockum — Turkish Delight. Now Turkey is a developed country with the world’s 17th-largest GDP. It is a leading producer of agricultural products, textiles, motor vehicles, ships construction materials, consumer electronics and home appliances.

Would the stall-holder’s warm Turkish welcome still be waiting for me, or have the many years of Erdogan’s carefully calculated mix of hate and financial success changed the Turkish man-in-the-bazaar. Sadly, I have no answer; in the present climate, I am not about to go back to Turkey.

—

The writer, a retired physicist, is the author of the Len Palmer Mysteries (lenpalmerbooks.com)

BLOGGER

Roger M. Kaye The author has been living in Rehovot since making Aliya in 1970. A retired physicist, he divides his time between writing adventure novels, getting his sometimes unorthodox views on the world into print, and working in his garden. An enthusiastic skier and world traveler, the author has visited many countries. His first novels "Snow Job - a Len Palmer Mystery" and "Not My Job – a Second Len Palmer Mystery" are published for Amazon Kindle. The author is currently working on the third Len Palmer Mystery - "Do Your Job".

 

[DemirkanTR]

Well, tell to blogger that Israelis and Jews are welcome, greedy Zionists are not

 

[Yatağanlı]

Most biased article of 2018 award goes to....

 

[Adıvar]

I have read the article. I found no bias.