ISTANBUL-While US President Barack Obama is getting ready to set foot in Istanbul today, local residents are also preparing for two days of traffic nightmares. Presidential visits in the past like Iranian Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last summer, as well as Thursday’s rehearsals to meet Obama, have blocked off roads in the city for hours.
ISTANBUL - A week ahead of the March 29 local elections, political parties display how important Istanbul is, as five different rallies are held in Turkey’s biggest city in a single day. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks to tens of thousands in Kazlıçeşme district, while Şişli’s Çağlayan Square becomes the ground for rallies by three opposition parties
One of the most significant aspects of 2008 focused on efforts to renew peace talks aimed at finding solutions for many of the World’s decades-long disputes. At the same time however, we also bore witness to fresh conflicts erupting over some of these disputes. A number of significant changes in world leaderships also took place in 2008.