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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signed a decree on reducing customs duties on sunflower seeds from 27% to 12% and on crude sunflower oil from 36% to 22%. We are waiting for a reduction in oil prices on the shelves of Turkish stores.

According to analysts' expectations, the Central Bank of Turkey raised the discount rate by 250 basis points from 42.5% to 45%. "The current rate level will be maintained until the underlying trend of monthly inflation decreases significantly and inflation expectations approach the forecasted range," the statement said.

The minimum wage in the TRNC has been increased from 18.1 thousand liras to 27.587 liras ($912). After deduction of taxes, the amount to be paid will be 24 thousand liras. The decision was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic and entered into force.

Ko Holding has entered into an agreement to purchase 7 clinics in Antalya province, including the Alanya Anadolu Hastanesi. Ko Holding has signed an agreement to acquire 80% of the capital of the private company Kemer Medical Center Private Health Services Tourism and Trade (KMC). In addition, the company acquired 7 hospitals in Antalya, Kemer, Belek, Side, Alanya, Aspendos and Lara. Thanks to this, the number of hospitals owned by Ko Holding in the healthcare sector has increased to 20. The transaction price was 110 million euros. Levent Cakyroglu, CEO of Ko Holding, said: "Antalya is one of the most important tourist centers in Turkey, so with this deal we decided to increase our investments in medical tourism."

In 2024, the salaries of all deputies and retired deputies were increased by 49.25%. The salary of deputies increased from 73,329 liras to 110 thousand liras ($36), and the pension - from 51,970 liras to 77,565 liras ($2,567). At the same time, almost half of the deputies (300 people) working in parliament are already pensioners. The salary of such deputies will amount to 230 thousand liras (7604 dollars). In total, 599 deputies work in the Turkish parliament.

Crews that have completed repair work on the section from the center of the district to the Cultural Center continue laying asphalt in the direction of the Demirtas intersection. Assessing the work on asphalting the 3 km long road from the embankment to the Cultural Center, the Mayor of Alanya, Adem Murat Yuzhdel, said: "We continue to work on updating the asphalt on the road used by 12 microdistricts. In the near future, we intend to complete the work and provide the road for the use of our residents."

For the second year in a row, Turkey has become the second most popular foreign destination among Russian citizens. In 2023, more than 2 million Russian citizens visited the country. 1. Armenia - 17.8%2. Turkey - 14.1%3. Kyrgyzstan - 10%4. Uzbekistan - 7.8%5. Tajikistan - 7.3%6. Belarus - 6.5%7. Azerbaijan - 5.9%8. Kazakhstan - 5.1%9. UAE - 3.5%10. Georgia - 2.9%11. Other countries - 19.1%

Turkish carrier Luks Yilmaz announced the launch of the Rostov-on-Don-Istanbul bus route. The bus will depart from the main bus station of Rostov-on-Don every Monday at 9:00 and arrive in Istanbul every other day. The route runs through the territory of Russia, Georgia and Turkey. The travel time is just over 40 hours. The first flight is scheduled for January 29. The ticket price is 9.788 rubles.

Bali Ngurah Rai Airport, which was used by 17.7 million tourists in 2023, plans to increase passenger traffic this year by adding new routes. Currently, there are 37 international routes operated by 36 foreign airlines and 20 domestic routes operated by 11 Indonesian airlines. Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, Minister of Tourism and Economy of Indonesia, announced plans to add direct flights from Turkey, India, the UAE and China (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou). "This is a step towards the development of high-quality and sustainable tourism, covering the key markets of Australia, Europe, America and Asia," Sandiaga said.

The Department of Supplies and Contracts of the Pipeline and Oil Transport Corporation (BOTAŞ) has completed a tender for the construction of the FAZ-2 gas pipeline in the Antalya-Manavgat-Alanya-Gazipasa-Anamur districts worth 2 billion 519 million 722 thousand liras. Three companies were invited to participate in the tender. With an offer of 3 billion liras, the tender was won by the Ziver Construction - Makro Tel partnership. Haver Holding has signed a contract with BOTAS for the implementation of a 137 km long gas pipeline construction project. The tender was signed by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ziver Holding, businessman Veysel Demirci and BOTAS officials. A distribution station will be built in the Ciplakli area of Alanya, from where gas will be transported to other areas of the city.

Information for those who imported their car into Turkey. At the moment, the maximum possible service life of a car imported into the country is 4 years for pensioners and 2 years for all other citizens. The fines for violation of the terms of stay in 2024 are: 1 month - 1,655 liras2 months - 3305 liras3 months - 4989 lirasfrom 3 months - 25% of the customs tax of the car (it should be understood as 25% of the cost of the car itself). Important! If, after you have imported the car into Turkey, you decide to leave / fly out of the country without a car, then during your absence you must notify customs about the parking place of the car (or leave the car in the customs parking lot). The penalty for failure to notify is 6610 liras. In addition, during your absence, no one has the right to drive a car, i.e. the car should just be parked all the time while you are out of the country.

A 21-year-old Turkish citizen S.S., who introduced himself as an employee of MIT (Milli Istihbarat Teşkilatı - Turkey's special service) gained the trust of a foreign tourist and, forging her signature, received a bill for 900 thousand euros. During a search of the defendant's house, a pistol and two fake MIT identification cards were found. The Supreme Criminal Court of Alanya ruled and sentenced S.S. to 8 years and 4 months in prison for forgery of signatures, documents and fraud, as well as to a fine of 37 million 500 thousand liras.