5th April 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Part of my job is to meet current and future opinion-formers in Turkey; to learn from them; and to discuss with them the United Kingdom and our relationship with Turkey. So I always hugely enjoy meeting and talking to the brilliant students who study at Turkish universities. Today I visited Koç University, some way out […]
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3rd April 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
In late March, the sun beats down on metre-deep snow. On slopes above, skiers glide. At a hotel in the town centre, over 500 top Turkish business people and opinion formers have gathered. Welcome to the Uludağ Economic Summit in Bursa – a fantastic launch-pad for the UK-Turkey GREAT campaign. The GREAT campaign is all […]
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26th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
What is red, liquid and knows no nationality? The answer of course is blood – something none of us can live without. For many years the Turkish Red Crescent has been running a social responsibility project to encourage people to donate blood. It is called the “Safe Blood Supply Programme”. I was delighted this year […]
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19th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I was struck by a recent newspaper article saying that British nationals had bought over 1,300 properties in Turkey in the last nine months. Only German nationals (2,557) had bought more. It was a useful reminder of the strengths of the links between Turkey and the UK. Around 35,000 British nationals are resident in Turkey, […]
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18th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
In my job I am often asked “what difference can diplomacy really make?”. It is not always an easy question to answer. But, this week at the United Nations in New York, we should see an example of diplomacy making a real, tangible difference – and both Turkey and the UK are involved. Today the […]
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15th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
What links Turkey, Iceland, press freedom and Google? My recent blog “World Press Freedom Index: Turkey” was the most-read blog I have written since coming to Turkey. So I was interested to see reports recently about the balance which all countries must strike between media freedoms; genuine security concerns; and ensuring that the extent to […]
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12th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
With which overseas market did UK bilateral trade in goods increase by 200% in 2012? The answer is Turkmenistan, whose International Investment Forum I and colleagues including Ron Nash, UK co-Chair of the Turkmenistan UK Trade and Industry Council, attended in Istanbul on 5-6 March. There is huge interest in Turkmenistan’s massive natural gas reserves […]
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7th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
In June 2012 the Falkland Islands announced their intention to hold a referendum in order to give the Falkland Islanders their say on the future. The referendum will take place on 10-11 March. Some background is here, including the full question which will be put (which includes the notably clear text: Do you wish the […]
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4th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I was privileged at the weekend to be interviewed on Kanal 24 by well-known Turkish journalist Özay Şendir (in Turkish). We covered lots of topics including use of social media, Cappadocia, trade and investment, freedom of expression and, inevitably, football (my Istanbul team, by the way, is Kasımpaşa). http://youtu.be/Th9Lk78tdjo
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28th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Here are some things you can do to celebrate St David’s Day, the national day of Wales, on 1 March: read this blog about my Welsh great-grandfather, John Derfel. Includes a beautiful old picture and links to the Welsh- and English-language Wikipedia entries of his Welsh nationalist father, Robert Jones Derfel; check out the Welsh Flag which […]
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