Turkey is one of the world’s top gold and jewellery exporters, sending manufactured pieces and fine precious metals and stones to many regional countries as well as further afield. The country imports a great deal of these valuable commodities and products, while its domestic market is a robust one – for both the buying and selling of gold, diamonds and jewellery. There is a large and developed…
Consumer sentiment in Turkey is weakening as the pace of economic growth slows and consumers tighten their purse strings, potentially slowing the retail sector’s stellar performance in recent years. Turkish retail has been one of the most appealing sectors for investors and consumers thanks to a rapidly expanding economy and a surge in per capita disposable income. On the basis of household expenditure,…
Turkey wants to raise the private sector’s share in the electricity market to 75% to raise government revenue, boost investment to keep up with demand and reduce the role of the state in the economy. Under legislation that existed until the start of 2013, this would have been difficult. However, the Electricity Market Law 6446, enacted in March 2013, sought to open up the sector to private investors…
In an effort to join the club of nuclear nations, Turkey has announced plans to build 12 nuclear reactors by 2030, with the intention that 20% of power generation capacity will be provided from this source. However, while eight projects have been approved, delays have already befallen the initial build-own-operate (BOO) project, Akkuyu 1, pushing the commencement of its operations to 2022 from the…
While Turkey may be at the crossroads of civilisations, it is in a hydrocarbons cul-de-sac. The country is surrounded on all sides by significant oil and gas deposits that all stop short of Turkish frontiers. The bountiful Zagros fold and thrust belt, which extends from the Arabian Peninsula up through Mesopotamia, ends at the Turkish-Iraqi border. A few hundred miles away is the super giant Kirkuk…
The country’s demand for energy is rising and new supply sources for natural gas are needed to generate electricity, heat homes and cook. Due to scarce domestic supplies and a lack of sufficient liquefied natural gas infrastructure, those supplies will mostly come via pipeline. Turkey has trained its eyes on tapping the planned link from the Shah Deniz II gas development in Azerbaijan to markets…
With Turkey undergoing a major construction drive during the last few years, many associated trades have seen solid growth. One segment showing particularly impressive expansion has been insulation, which has averaged higher growth than construction as a whole, on the back of the insulation of both existing buildings and new ones. There is also still much room for further growth, as Turkey aims to…
As Turkey’s economy and population have expanded, growth in its construction sector has benefitted from the existence of a vibrant domestic industry for manufacturing machinery. According to 2013 data from the Turkish Construction Equipment Manufacturers and Distributors Association (IMDER), the construction and mining machinery and equipment (CMME) sub-sector posted the second-fastest growth in…
Few treats are as simple and pleasing to the palette as a fresh tomato from a Turkish summer market. But in 2010, worries about pesticide contamination brought strict curbs on exports to the EU, hitting local tomato farmers, among the world’s top five producers of the Mediterranean staple. However, the EU has now abolished the more stringent inspection requirements on tomatoes, satisfied with Turkish…
Taking the train to Ankara from Istanbul used to be a leisurely affair. After a snack at Gar Lokantası, the blue-tiled restaurant inside Haydarpa şa station that was built by German engineers in 1872 and once served as the terminus for the Baghdad-Istanbul Railway, travellers boarded the train as the sun set. A clattering eight hours later, the train crawled into the capital’s main station. Now…
