Note the Christmas tree:
The Sanko Park Mall is quiet on Fridays, the day Syrians used to come
Posted on 12/24/2011 8:28:19 AM PST by SunkenCiv
There is a joke going around business circles in the south-eastern Turkish city of Gaziantep these days. "We no longer have zero problems with our neighbours," it goes, "we now have zero neighbours without problems."
It is an ironic reference to the new foreign policy championed by the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), which was given the title "Zero Problems With Neighbours" by its architect, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
This aimed to eliminate the historic tensions which had kept Turkey in a state of hostility with all its neighbours, and rebuild relations based on trade...
Trade with the Middle Eastern region expanded quickly, especially with Iraq and Syria, the two Arab countries on Turkey's south-eastern border.
...the two countries abolished visas, and a flood of tourists came both ways across the border...
After initially trying to persuade President Assad to embrace reform, the Turkish government is now leading those countries calling for him to go. The free trade agreement has been torn up. Tourism has all but stopped...
"Before the Arab Spring the city was full of Syrian people here for the weekend, staying in the hotels a couple of days, shopping, spending money," says Mehmet Ali Mutafoglu, whose family runs Akteks, one of the city's big textile firms.
"But now, since the critical situation between the two governments, nobody is coming over to Turkey."
Akteks owns two factories in Aleppo, in northern Syria, and has seen its business contract by 30-40%...
Many of the city's exports to other Middle Eastern countries go through Syria, which has a border with Turkey stretching more than 800km (500 miles).
That route has become more dangerous and expensive. New fees are being imposed on Turkish trucks, and they have occasionally been shot at by Syrian troops.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
The Sanko Park Mall is quiet on Fridays, the day Syrians used to come
I’m sure if they phone Hussein, he will fix it.
Be sure to ring him up at 3:00AM, however, Hawaii time.
Assad’s Lebanese Invasion
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2824460/posts
Feltman: Lebanon should drop neutral policy toward Syria
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2824656/posts
There’s no place he’s more likely to be, unless it’s the golf course.
Merry Christmas!
No gravy for Turkey.
They’ve told each other to get stuffed, so...
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