The Global MetroMonitor tracks economic growth in the world’s 200 largest metro areas, both in terms of employment and per capita income. For 2011, Istanbul came in at number 7.

Turkey’s three largest cities claim a spot on the fastest-growing metropolitan economies list prepared by the Brookings Institution. İzmir, Ankara and Istanbul took the fourth, sixth and seventh places respectively.

The Global MetroMonitor report served as “an analysis of per capita income and employment changes in the 2010 to 2011 period for 200 of the world’s largest metropolitan economies, which account for nearly one-half (48 percent) of global output but contain only 14 percent of world population and employment.”

China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Brazil accounted for more than half the world’s forty fastest-growing metro areas. The US and Britain, by contrast, accounted for half of the forty weakest metros.

Built on an area of 495,000 square meters in the Bayrampaşa district, Forum Istanbul comprises 175,000 square meters of leased area plus an IKEA store measuring 30,000 square meters and a Real supermarket covering about 15,500 square meters. The development will also include public spaces and parks where festivals, as well as cultural and sporting activities, will be organized.

Brand names such as Tepe Home, Saturn, Teknosa and Bimex will cover 11,500 square meters. The stores Boyner, YKM, C&A, M&S and Zara will also be included in the shopping mall, which will have a parking lot with room for 5,500 vehicles.

In addition, Forum Istanbul will be home to a giant Ferris wheel that will be as tall as the Bosphorus bridge, along with a bowling alley, restaurants, an IMAX movie theater, an ice-skating rink and playrooms for children.

The biggest attraction of this giant shopping center is Turkuazoo an aquarium housing 10,000 different species and constructed on 8,000 square meters of land. Turkey’s first large aquarium, Turkuazoo will also make Forum Istanbul one of the world’s first shopping centers to include an aquarium. Visitors will be able to walk through one of the world’s longest underwater tunnels, experiencing a 270-degree view that will allow them to feel at one with the sea creatures without having to put on a wetsuit and dive in.

Forum Istanbul is unique, adding a new dimension to the existing retail market in the region. The scheme offers a contemporary urban experience, interspersed with boulevards, piazzas, avenues, courtyards, and monumental buildings. The interplay of these elements produces streets with sweeping views, narrow lanes with shadow and contrasts of scale and public squares with different spatial qualities. A public area with spectacular landscape, it is suitable for festivals, concerts, markets and sports events. Signage, fountains, sculptures and art will also be a part of the project.

Forum Istanbul had a spectacular opening show by laser-projecting the work of Turkey’s 15 top living artists across Istanbul’s iconic buildings and 25 giant Forum Istanbul tulip logo balloons illuminated the skyline, Multi’s Marcel Kokkeel, Board member and Chairman Multi Mall Management and Levent Eyuboglu, MD Multi Turkmall, signaled the start to a spectacular evening of art projected onto the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul Train station, AKM in Taksim Square and other key locations to hundreds of thousands of local residents and tourists. Multi donated the show to the city of Istanbul and announced the opening on 17 November of Forum Istanbul – the largest shopping and excitement center in Europe.

Forum Istanbul will become an important landmark, attracting shoppers and visitors from all over Istanbul.

Forum Istanbul Shopping Center
Kocatepe Mahallesi,
Şehir Parkı Caddesi 34045
Bayrampaşa – İstanbul
For more info visit www.forumistanbul.com.tr or follow forum on facebook

Longtable Istanbul is designed by local architect Mustafa Toner and is the epitome of modern Istanbul with a slick design which features dark wood and leather seats that give it a grown-up, sexy vibe, with a terrace that makes the most of the balmy summer months.

At the entrance of cristal glasses a Dutch friendly attractive hostess welcomes you from where you will be guided over a catwalk along the longtable to your seat.

The menu contains Turkish favourites with a twist. During the night there is live soul music with a dutch singer accompanied by a white piano playing tunes of Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross.

The restaurant is located in the Sofa Hotel in Nisantasi.

Address:
Longtable Istanbul
Tesvikiye Caddesi No 123, Sisli, Istanbul
+90 (0)212 224 8181

Leave a comment below for your review of Longtable

Visiting Turkey for the first time in 18 years, the world rock stars, famous for mega hits as “Livin’ On a Prayer,” “Always,” “It’s My Life” and “You Give Love a Bad Name”, performed at Istanbul’s Türk Telekom Arena stage on Friday evening July 8th as part of their Bon Jovi Open Air Tour 2011.

Bon Jovi surprised his Turkish Rock fans going on stage while wearing a Turkish flag shirt. The Bon Jovi show was dubbed as “Istanbul biggest concert of the year,” and it lived up to expectations, as the 35,000 people present for the American rock giants’ performance at Türk Telekom Arena would tell you.

The set’s opening song was “Raise Your Hands,” which was, in a way, the most perfect way to kick start a stadium show. Jon Bon Jovi, the band’s 49-year-young frontman, took a short tour around the stage during the song’s chorus, calling the crowd to do what is urged in the song title.

Bon Jovi played almost all of their hits, from the 1980s’ powerful kicks to 2000s modern rock tunes. And they stayed on stage for about three hours.

They kicked off the European leg of the tour in Zagreb on June 8, the group will continue on from İstanbul to Romania, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, Austria and Spain, wrapping up their summer tour with a concert in Lisbon on July 31.

The band will perform concerts in the U.S., Canada and throughout Europe. Globally, the Grammy® Award-winning band has sold more than 125 million albums, and performed more than 2,700 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 35 million fans.

BON JOVI GREATEST HITS debuted at #1 around the world in November, with the band’s three-decade-spanning retrospective charting higher and selling more copies in its first week than their 1994 Cross Road release, which has sold more than 21 million copies to date. Previously, the band’s “Lost Highway Tour” was named the #1 tour of 2008. Nearing three decades of an incredible career, Bon Jovi shows no sign of slowing down.

Their 2010 Circle Tour was the highest grossing concert tour of 2010 according to Billboard’s annual countdown of the top 25 concert tours. Bon Jovi last performed in Turkey in September 1993 at İstanbul’s İnönü Stadium.

Jolie is set to visit refugee camps set up along the Turkish side of the country’s border with Syria.

Turkish authorities were hanging a 15 meter- (16 yard-) long banner near the entrance of the camp to welcome Jolie. The banner reads: “Goodness Angel of the World, Welcome.”

Thousands of Syrians have fled to Turkey in the past weeks with thousands more waiting on the Syrian side of the border.

Ankara is considering opening a humanitarian aid corridor into Syria to deliver aid to civilians who have been left homeless.

All hotel rooms in Turkey’s southern province of Hatay have been fully booked prior to the arrival of actress and Good Will Ambassador of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Angelina Jolie, in the province on Friday.

Source: hurriyetdailynews.com

Lady Gaga is one of the top famous singers in the last years. Inspired by glam rock artists like David Bowie, Elton John and Queen , as well as pop singers such as Madonna, Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse, Gaga is well-recognized for her outré sense of style in fashion, in performance and in her music videos. Her contributions to the music industry have garnered her numerous achievements including five Grammy Awards, among twelve nominations; two Guinness World Records; and the estimated sale of fifteen million albums and fifty-one million singles worldwide.

First time in Turkish media, crazy singer has spoken to teenage magazine Blue Jean in Los Angeles.

Last month famous magazine Blue Jean celebrated their 24th year and they met Gaga for an interview for the turkish teeangers.

Gaga spoke about all her secrets and ideas about marriage, gay rights and many other subjects. Here below are the deadlines of the interview.

BJ : We can understand your success in the west. What do you think about your success in more conservative countries ? For example in Turkey you have huge fans and they would like to see you there as well. Would you like to visit Turkey ?

LG : Of course I would like to visit Turkey. Sometimes conservative places can fool you. You might think it will be difficult for them to accept your music but it is vice versa. In such countries my audience is more excited. With my first concert they told me I can be very successful in big cities but what about the small ones?
In reality most of my fans were from middle America, they know my song lyrics by heart. I have fans all around the world.

IN HIGH SCHOOL THEY ALWAYS HAD FUN WITH ME

BJ: Maybe at the moment with your lyrics you are talking to those people. All the things you couldn’t tell that time, you put them in your music.

LG: In high school I was always the losing part.They always had fun with me.I guess everything I went thru those times were my destiny. When I look at the crowds today, I see many teenagers like me. They look at me and learn a lot from me.I really adore my fans.

I WANT A RING, BRIDESMAIDS AND FLOWERS
BJ: What do you think about the gay marriages? How important is it for them to be accepted in the society?
LG: It is very important for me. Everybody should be equal. Being equal is not only for one type of people. Why would anyone be less important than the other?
BJ: Do you believe in marriage?

LG: Yes honey , of course. I am italian. I want a ring, bridesmaids and flowers.I am very traditional. I would like to marry one day. I can talk about how holly marriages are. But I don’t agree if the goverment behaves different to people’s marriages.

WRITINGS SONGS IS A 15 MIN VOMITTING
BJ : When is the best time for you to write songs? Morning or evening? Do you need any special conditions for it?

LG: Writing lyrics is like a 15 min vomitting to me. 15 min long you vomit everything you have in your mind.

I HATE PERFECTION
BJ: Can we call you perfectionist?

LG: No, absolutely not. I actually hate perfection. Sometimes I like making mistakes.

Galleria is located in Istanbul’s Atakoy neighbourhood and opened in 1988. The convenient coastal road location just 5km. from the Atatürk Airport provides for a great advantage.

Galleria is spread over four floors.The basement floor houses many big brands such as Adidas, Pierre Cardin and Quicksilver. There is also a selection of restaurants and cafes as well as a supermarket.

The shopping continues on the ground floor, while the first floor contains a bowling alley, Gloria Jean’s Cafe and Beymen. The second floor houses a cinema and the Notting Hill pub.

Galleria Shopping Mall serves an average of 20,000 visitors per day through 119 stores ranging from luxury wear to well-known brands. And it offers many options as far as restaurants go.

Among the standard services are the parking lot, a drugstore, the dry cleaner’s, a foreign currency exchange office, a baby-care room, car wash and banks. The 500m2 event space, the bowling alley, Migros Store and the 15-hall movie theater are the other pros that Galleria possesses.

Address:
Galleria Shopping Mall / Galleria Alışveriş Merkezi
Kennedy Cad., Ataköy, 34518
Sahilyolu ATAKÖY / İSTANBUL

TEL: 0212 559 95 60
Opening Hours: 10:00 – 22:00

For more information visit www.galleria-atakoy.com.tr

This time the movie continues in Pamukkale, Denizli; another natural wonder in Turkey.

Prime Minister Erdoğan and his daughter Sureyya along with a few AKP members were there to meet Cage.

Erdogan greeted him saying “Welcome to Turkey.” Nicolas Cage was pleased to meet the Turkish Prime Minister.

He said that he wished he had come to Turkey earlier. He also mentioned his interest in Sufism and said he would like to visit Istanbul and Konya as well.

Cage was happy with all the support he had received from people around him. He smiled and said Ghost Rider2 – Spirit of Vengeance will be a great action movie. The shooting will continue until February 8th.

In Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Johnny Blaze hides out in Eastern Europe, he is called upon to stop the devil, who is trying to take human form.

See Nicolas Cage on the set of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in the video below

This awesome behind the scenes video with Nick Cage doing a stunt in the upcoming action film “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” aka Ghost Rider 2 by directors Mark Neveldine (Crank: High Voltage, Crank, Gamer) and Brian Taylor and starring Nicolas Cage (Drive Angry 3D, Trespass, The Croods), Violante Placido (The American, Sleepless), Idris Elba (Thor, The Big C), Ciaran Hinds (Above Suspicion: Deadly Intent, The Woman in Black) and Christopher Lambert (The Chauffeur, Highlander).

Nicolas Cage was in Cappadocia (known as the natural wonder) to complete his latest Movie Ghost Rider 2.

He was impressed with the beauty of this historical part of Turkey. After the movie shootings, he did some shopping with his family. He said he really liked this place.

Cappadocia is arguably one of the most fascinating regions in Turkey. Located near the city of Kayseri in the centre of Turkey, Cappadocia has a multitude of historical and cultural monuments, but is most famous for its unique geological features.

The region was formed by a combination of deposits from rivers and volcanic eruptions. The soft rocks gradually eroded to give the region its unique, surreal landscape with countless pillars, chimney-like structures (called ‘fairy chimneys’) and strange rock formations.

After touring Cappadocia Nicolas Cage was seen at a carpet store in the area checking famous Turkish carpets.

Oscar prize winner Nicolas Cage arrived to Istanbul with British Airways from London.

As reported,in August this year, Capadocia will be welcoming world stars like Tom Hanks, Al Pacino and Meg Ryan.

Turkey has become a prominent global and regional hub for many international companies in managing, production and distribution. Companies that manage operations in tens of countries from their headquarters in Istanbul also employ many top level Turkish senior executives.

Coca Cola, for example, manages its operations in 90 countries throughout Eurasia and Africa from its Istanbul headquarters. Turkey is a strong country due to its dynamic economy and young population and also serves as a central air transportation hub accommodating numerous carriers.

Another powerful company Pepsi Co’s Istanbul head office has been acting as a regional center for 14 countries – Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova – since 2008. Turkey is the center of the company’s southeastern European region, while the four other European centers of the beverage and snacks giant are in based in England, France, Spain and Russia.

Microsoft’s Middle East and Africa office in Istanbul is the software company’s center for operations in 79 countries.
Ala Faramawy, a vice president at Microsoft International responsible for business development in the region, said Istanbul is close to crucial regional business centers. “Besides, the business opportunities Istanbul offers, its potential in social development, information and communication technologies, its educated workforce and its infrastructure supporting foreign employees are important,” he said.

Intel, another IT giant, has been managing its operations in 64 countries in the Middle East and Africa from Turkey since 2004, while U.S.-based software firm Adobe also maintains an office in Istanbul that is responsible for its Mediterranean operations.

MasterCard directs operations in 10 countries from its Turkey office, while rival Visa manages its Israel and Romania operations from Turkey.

Istanbul is becoming one of the top cities on the Planet for both business and leisure.