F1 Racetrack Cannot Be Completed

The Formula 1 project, that was approved by the Cabinet at the beginning of 2002 and promises 1 million additional tourists who would bring a 500-Dollar-income per person, is still pending because of bureaucratic red tape.Mehmet Yildirim, Chairman of Istanbul Trade Chamber, which undertook the construction work of the project and saved a 100-million-dollar budget for that, said, “We cannot realize an investment that will benefit the country for one year.” The fact that the chamber could not find an office to issue a permit delayed its beginning to construction. Three municipalities are in dispute over the place where the racetrack lies. Each of the municipalities argues that the land on which the prospective track lies belongs to itself. Yildirim said that the difficulties were not limited to this. Everyone claims a different thing over the land, some say that the environment of the land should be protected, but F1 is already an environmentalist project, he said.WEDDING OF ERDOGAN’S SON  Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will come to Istanbul to attend the wedding of Bilal Erdogan, son of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. PM Erdogan invited Belusconi during a phone conversation and Berlusconi said that he would try to come. Berlusconi said on Thursday evening that he would come to the wedding.�