28th October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The student has achieved many immense things. But faced with the arrival of what some people call a VVIP, she is anxious. “What will I say?” she asks. “How is he like?” “Don’t worry,” we tell her. “He is enormously experienced and professional.” We recently had the privilege to welcome to Turkey His Royal Highness […]
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23rd October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Everyone needs credit. Especially businesses. So it is important that UK Export Finance (UKEF), the oldest credit agency in the world, is over here and doing business in Turkey. In fact, UKEF has just concluded its first direct lending facility inTurkey. The loan, worth €23.6m, will be used to build a gas-fired power plant in […]
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20th October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Without freedom of expression and the rule of law, no democracy can flourish. Both are also closely linked to stability and prosperity, as I wrote in my recent blog on Ahmet Hakan. So I was delighted to attend a conference, “Expression should be free”, organised in Istanbul on 19 October by P24, a platform for independent journalists […]
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19th October 2015
Istanbul, Turkey
‘Spin Doctor’ is a phrase that emerged in the English language. Judging by Russian information operations over its actions in Syria, it should have been Russian. Russia says it is hitting at Da’esh. But its actions speak louder than its words. It has in fact primarily targeted opposition fighters opposed to the Assad regime. 85% […]
Read more on Yes, Moscow, there is a Syrian Moderate Opposition | Reply
9th October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Which brand at once make you think “quality” and “the best”? For me and many others it has to be “Rolls Royce”. So I was delighted to attend on 5 October the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Rolls Royce and Turkish research body TUBITAK, in the presence of the Turkish Minister for Science, […]
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2nd October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A politically motivated protest outside a newspaper office results in physical damage and intimidation. Politicians and media make threats against specific individuals. Days later, one of those individuals – Ahmet Hakan, a prominent journalist – is physically attacked, and hospitalised. These developments are wrong in themselves. They are also terrible for Turkey’s image overseas; and […]
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16th September 2015
Istanbul, Turkey
You may well have heard of the Chevening Scholarships Programme. Every year, the British government awards them to people we judge to be outstanding established or emerging leaders, to continue their further education. Competition for scholarships is fierce, so fierce I very much doubt I would have got one were I to have applied back in the […]
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10th September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The sun is hot between the shade-trees. In the distance, the sea sparkles. Memorials mark the resting place of 6,000 British soldiers who died at the nearby Scutari Barracks of injuries and illness during the Crimean War of 1854-56, most in unmarked graves; British and Indian soldiers of World Wars I and II; German Jaeger […]
Read more on #AdiosIstanbul 1: a tragic, evocative place | Reply (2)
1st September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Two hundred Scouts gather on a parade ground for a flag ceremony, surrounded by trees. As the morning sun raises the temperature into the humid mid-30’s, the flags of Turkey, the UK, Egypt, Serbia and other countries are raised into the Istanbul skies. I was delighted recently to visit Istanbul’s largest Scouting centre at […]
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25th August 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The chanting is mesmerising. Priests in richly-decorated gowns perform the liturgy before a crowd crammed onto a rock shelf, hundreds of meters above the valley floor. TV cameras transmit the ceremony live. Since 2010, the Greek Orthodox divine liturgy has been taking place every 15 August at the Sumela Monastery, high in the Pontic mountains […]
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