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A new competitor of Turkcell, Vodafone and Turk Telekom, Netgsm has started work as the fourth telecom operator in Turkey. Subscribers of this network will have the number block "0510 22X XXXX". Adem Okal, chairman of the Board of Directors of Netgsm, said: "Today we serve more than 198,000 subscribers. By the end of 2024, we plan to attract 3 million subscribers by transferring numbers." The company has every chance to reach the desired number of subscribers, as the tariffs it offers are very attractive: 29 liras per month - 1GB of Internet, 100 minutes + 50 sms39 liras per month - 1GB of Internet, 250 minutes + 100 sms49 liras per month - 1GB of Internet, 500 minutes + 100 sms

Shenol Vaivalako, a jeweler from Antalya, has created four rosaries in 2.5 years, each of which is estimated at more than 200,000 dollars! In their production, he used gold, silver, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, Ottoman amber and diamonds. It is noteworthy that Shenol works in a small workshop with an area of only 9 m2. Vaivalako said that he wants to exhibit his rosary beads in the museum, and present one of them to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Emphasizing that each of the rosaries he created has its own story, Vaivalako says: "I depicted Hector and Achilles during the Trojan War, the helmet of the prophet Solomon, the owl he was talking to, and his army. This is a very difficult art! I think the cost of four rosaries is approaching a million dollars!"

By decree of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the amount of holiday payments to pensioners has been doubled and now amounts to 3,000 liras (about $ 100). Thus, two pensioners will receive payments totaling 6,000 liras: the first will be paid by April 9 and the second by June 15 of this year.

The government is working on changes to the Labor Code, planning to reduce the number of hours of the working week from 45 to 40 hours. The amendment will also specify: the amount of wages, annual and weekly vacations, work schedules, etc. The difference in overtime pay coefficients will also be eliminated. At the same time, the opposition submitted to the Turkish Grand National Assembly a bill to reduce the weekly working day to 37.5 hours.

A record number of Turkish citizens traveled outside Turkey in 2023. The trend towards an increase has been observed for several years. In 2021, this number was 2,759,186 people, in 2022 - 7,345. 514 people, and in 2023 - a record 11,167,433 people! Thus, practically every eighth Turkish citizen left the country last year for one reason or another. Which countries did Turkish citizens prefer to visit? Iraq - 1,908,838 tripsBulgaria - 1.449.968 tripsGeorgia - 916.422 tripsGreece - 890.442 tripsAzerbaijan - 339.611 trips

Abdul Wahab Olgun, president of the Izmir Torbala Chamber of Commerce, said that the monthly salary of workers has reached 70 thousand lira ($2,280), but even this fact does not solve the problem of a shortage of workers on construction sites. "The daily salary of plasterers and painters reaches 2 thousand lira and, together with overtime hours, reaches 70 thousand per month. Thus, the salaries of these workers are higher than the salaries of white-collar workers. At the same time, even with such good pay, there is a shortage of craftsmen and support staff, especially in areas requiring special knowledge. The shortage of staff, in turn, makes it difficult to complete projects on time and control costs, which negatively affects the construction business as a whole," Torbaly said.

According to a study conducted on the Istanbul real estate rental market, the most expensive area of Istanbul turned out to be Saryer, where the rent was 40 thousand liras per month ($1300), and the cheapest - Arnavutkey, Esenyurt and Silivri - 12 thousand liras per month ($390). The calculation was based on a 2+1 apartment with an area of 100 m2. Saryer - 40,000 lirasBesiktas - 34,000 lirasBeyoglu - 31.000 lirasShishli - 26,000 lireAdalar (islands) - 25,000 liras

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) has announced the results of a life satisfaction survey. According to TurkStat, the number of people who define themselves as "happy" increased by 3% compared to last year and amounted to 52.7%. The proportion of people who said they were unhappy decreased by 2.2 points from 15.9% in 2022 to 13.7% in 2023. 33.6% of citizens could not classify themselves as either happy or unhappy. At the same time, women feel happier than men (55.1% versus 50.3%, respectively).It is also noted that people who are married (56.4%) are happier than single people (45.8%). Among people who are married, women are also more satisfied with their lives (59.5% of married women versus 53.2% of married men) Citizens call family, love and health the most important in life, and the most important life problems are the cost of living - 33.8%, education - 16.5% and poverty - 13.4%.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu announced this on his social networks. "The 11th Court satisfied the objections of the Istanbul Municipality, overturned the zoning changes made by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and justified the objections to the master plan of the project, which will destroy nature and water resources," he wrote. The controversial engineering project, which is called Erdogan's "dream," was actually supposed to become a stand-in for the Bosphorus, connect the Black and Marmara Seas, become a more comfortable analogue of the now overloaded strait and bring additional income to the country for faster passage of ships through the new channel. It was assumed that the length of the canal would be 45 kilometers, and the cost of its construction was estimated from up to $ 25 billion. However, the world community, environmentalists and 80% of Istanbul residents strongly opposed the implementation of this project. The opposition Istanbul municipality has filed a lawsuit against the canal and the government's proposed zoning plan, claiming that it will cause irreparable damage to agricultural land, forests and water basins, as well as worsen traffic congestion. As a result, the Turkish court granted the opposition's complaint against the multibillion-dollar canal construction project, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists on building. The Ministry may appeal the court's decision.

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute TÜIK, since 2017, the number of construction licenses issued and, accordingly, the number of facilities under construction in the country has decreased threefold. If 1.4 million construction permits were issued in 2017, then in 2023 their number amounted to only 520 thousand. Experts warn that this trend will lead to a shortage of housing and an increase in its cost. At the moment, the government is developing a program of affordable housing for citizens, however, it is difficult to say how it will be implemented, since in the face of rising construction costs and increased labor costs, many developers are afraid to start new projects.

Within the framework of the project "From mulberry tree to loom", implemented by the Department of Culture and Social Affairs of the Municipality of Alanya, important steps have been taken to turn sericulture into a new business area in Alanya. Speaking about the project, Mayor Adem Murat Yudzhel said: "Our Alanya, located on one of the important routes that previously connected the Silk Road with the Mediterranean, still retains its reputation as an important trade and tourist center. The history of the city dates back 10 centuries, and silk from Alanya decorated the palaces of the Seljuks. Silk weaving retained its importance in the Ottoman period after the Seljuks. In the 1930s, that is, 94 years ago, a silkworm school was opened in Alanya, and those who graduated from it were given a diploma called the "School of the Silkworm Şehadetnamesi". In order to preserve this important cultural heritage in the 21st century and pass it on to future generations, in 2015 we launched the project "From mulberry tree to loom" and continue to work within the framework of this project. Every year we teach thousands of students the art of silk weaving for free in order to make it popular again, like in the old days. In addition, this craft is a good help for our housewives, who receive income from the sale of handmade products."

The decision was published in the Official Gazette and entered into force. The purpose of this solution is to prevent the sale of counterfeit products and to properly inform consumers. This amendment to the Turkish Food Code aims to provide consumers with access to healthier and better quality products. According to the decision, fermented milk products, flavored yoghurts, yoghurts with additives and yoghurts with heat treatment after fermentation are prohibited from being supplied to the market in packages of more than 500 grams.The decree also regulates the maximum number of common specific microorganisms in fermented milk products during their entire shelf life.