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Mehmet Kemal Bozai, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director of European Union Affairs, said that visa applications will be submitted faster in 2024, which will shorten the time for obtaining Schengen visas for Turkish citizens. Bozai said, "Some progress has already been made. For example, if it used to take 3-4 weeks, now in many places the application and appointment process has been reduced to 2 weeks." Bozay said that the Joint Statement on Turkey-EU Relations, prepared by the EU Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrel, will be an important first step in bilateral relations: "The early implementation of the recommendations contained in the Borrell report will be an important first step in relations between Turkey and the EU. We expect all EU institutions to act quickly and take concrete steps in this direction."

Research company Euromonitor has published its annual ranking of the top 5 most visited cities in the world in 2023. Istanbul was ranked first with 20 million tourists, followed by London in second place (18.8 million tourists), Dubai in third place (16.8 million tourists), Antalya in fourth place (16.5 million tourists) and Paris in fifth place (15.5 million tourists).

Alanya Municipality has started work on the project of a sports complex to be built on an area of 200,000 m in the Elikesik Mahallesi neighborhood of Konakli, which will be the largest complex in the region. The project consists of 3 phases. Phase 1 includes the construction of tennis courts, a soccer field with a capacity of 2500 people, soccer training fields, a building for athletes' accommodation and a complex including conference halls, a restaurant and cafeteria, indoor and outdoor public and sports grounds and 45 rooms for 100 people.

The head of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thapanee Kiatphaibul, said that they expect the arrival of 2 million tourists in December. Many come here for the winter period and to meet the New Year, including citizens of the Russian Federation, for whom visa-free stay has been extended from 30 to 90 days until April 30, 2024. Starting December 15, nightlife establishments in Chonburi, Chiang Mai and Phuket provinces will be open until 4 a.m. and until 6 a.m. on New Year's Eve. At the same time, police work will be stepped up to ensure the safety of holidaymakers.

As we have already written, in Turkey it is possible to pay an official fee and not to serve in the army. You can read more about it in this post: https://t.me/alanyabrand/3890. From January 1, 2024 the amount of this fee will be increased and will be 183.526 Turkish Liras ($6,322). The monthly fine for failure to report for compulsory service is 1724.29 TL. In Turkey, compulsory 6-month military service applies to all male citizens between the ages of 21 and 41.

iGA Istanbul Airport has won first place in five categories in the Global Traveler Tested Reader's Survey Awards 2023. The airport was the leader in the categories "Best Airport in the World", "Best Airport in Europe", "Best Airport for Shopping", "Best Duty Free Zone" and "Best Restaurant Zone". In the past 11 months of 2023, 200 million people have used Turkish Airlines!

According to a regulation published in the Official Gazette of the Ministry of Commerce, all restaurants, cafes and other catering companies will be obliged to place price lists at the entrance to the establishment and on every table. The decree will come into force on January 1, 2024.

The Professional Football Disciplinary Commission (PFDK) of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced the punishment imposed on Ankarag c Club and club president Faruk Ko e. The soccer club has been fined 2 million liras. In addition, the next 5 matches of the club will be held without spectators. The club president Faruk Koja is disqualified for life.

The tender for the Antalya-Alanya highway project, the construction of which will be supervised by the General Directorate of Roads (KGM) of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (UDH), has been finalized. The tender, worth 76.7 billion liras, went to Limak Construction. Limak Construction Group is the 181st largest construction company in the world according to Engineering News Record's ranking. According to the same magazine's 2022 ranking, it is the 67th largest construction company in the world.

Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Ka ır announced that Turkey's first astronaut, Alper Gezeravcı, will go into space on January 17, 2024. Gezeravcı will take part in the flight together with Spanish, Italian and Swedish astronauts and will stay on the International Space Station for 14 days. Minister Fatih Ka ır said that as part of the ISS stay program, Gezeravcı will conduct 13 different scientific experiments in fields such as biology, medicine, material science and genetics. One of the experiments was prepared by students of the Muş Science and Art Center.

According to the Ministry of Tourism of Northern Cyprus, more than 44 thousand Russian citizens visited the island in the last 11 months of 2023, which is 33% more than in 2022. The Russians are followed by Iranians with 35.7 thousand people, Germans with 25.6 thousand people, British with 21.2 thousand people, Kazakhs with 14.4 thousand people and Ukrainians with 8.3 thousand people. The total number of foreigners coming to Northern Cyprus in 2023 amounted to 1.5 million.

Whoever takes a bundle of tickets will get....400 million liras! That's if you're lucky, of course. Let mathematicians calculate the probability of winning in lotteries, but we will talk about the traditional New Year lottery in Turkey - Milli Piyango. The national lottery in Turkey appeared in 1889. In 1939, Milli Piyango, a company controlled by the Prime Minister of Turkey, became the official ticket dealer. In fact, the Milli Piyango lotteries are held all year round, but it is before New Year's Eve that every Turk feels obliged to buy a cherished ticket, so that on New Year's Eve, sitting in front of the TV screen, to watch the announcement of the results with excitement.