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Thursday, September 18, 2008

DAY TWO Istanbul 9-16-08: Audio: Ferhat Boratav, Ishak Alaton, Ethem Sancak, and Selcuk Yorgancioglu on business and culture; photo gallery and video



Photo album: Istanbul cityscapes, Ishak Alaton and Ethem Sancak (for cutlines, click the text icon).


AUDIO:

Ferhat Boratav, Editor-in-chief, CNN Turk, speaking on “Who are the Turks? Their past and present.” Another very good history of the country, people and politics, with more emphasis on the history leading to now.


AUDIO:

Interview with business leader and member of the Jewish community in Turkey/Istanbul, Ishak Alaton (in the white shirt). He is the board chairman of Alarko Holding and a very successful businessman. He spoke about being Jewish in a 99 percent Muslim country, doing business in that county, the current leadership, American politics and the role of the Internet. Note: The interview took place outside on a veranda overlooking the Bosphorus Strait, so it is noisy. However, he is easily understood.


AUDIO:

Ethem Sancak, president of Hedef Alliance Holding, member of board of directors, TUSIAD (Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association). We met with him to speak about “The Islamic Tiger: Turkey’s Booming Economy.” Through a translator, he spoke a great deal about Turkey and American relations, specifically regarding business and about the shifting politics in Turkey and its blooming free-market.


AUDIO:

Selcuk Yorgancioglu, executive director of Abraaj Capital. He spoke about investments in Turkish economy and the changing role of banking in this developing country.


VIDEO:


These scenes were gathered from several massive neighborhoods in Istanbul on the second day of the Gatekeeper Editors trip. The footage was gathered while racing from meeting to meeting – which included Ishak Alaton, board chairman of Alarko Holding Group and a major Jewish business leader in Istanbul, “The Islamic Tiger” Ethem Sancak, president of Hedef Alliance Holding, and Selcuk Yorgancioglu (note many of these names have letter characters I don’t have …), executive director of Abraaj Capital. The scenes of the castle-like building were where we interviewed Selcuk. And, in fact, it is the Ciragan Palace. The dark scenes at the end and the table setting were taken at the home of U.S. Consul General Sharon Wiener, the water is the Bosphorus, not the water in the glasses; the diner was an iftar dinner which all the country has at the end of the day during Ramadan.

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Turkey in the New York Times

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Writer and Journalist in Seattle.