Turkey to open consulate in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: In a bid to strengthen its centuries old ties with Hyderabad, Turkey plans to not only set up a consulate or appoint an honorary consul in Hyderabad but is also seeking direct air connectivity between Hyderabad and Istanbul, Turkish ambassador Dr Burak Akcapar said on Saturday.

"We have applied to the Indian authorities for a direct air link between Hyderabad and Istanbul," the envoy said. Turkey seeks more flights from Indian cities Turkey also sought doubling of flights from Delhi and Mumbai from the current one daily flight from these cities. To increase Turkish presence in Hyderabad we have sought permission for a consulate and till such time we plan to have an honorary consul," the Turkish envoy told newspersons on the sidelines of a meeting with city-based industry bigwigs. Turkey has also sought direct connectivity with Chennai, Amritsar, Bangalore and Kolkata. But, he said that Hyderabad was an "absolute priority" thanks to age-old links with the Nizams. The envoy was in town to pitch Turkey as an investment destination and woo Hyderabad-based businessmen, especially from infrastructure and realty sectors, to the week-long Turkey World Trade Bridge international business summit being organized by the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey (TUSKON) and the Indo-Turkish Business Association (ITBA) from June 3 to 10, 2012 in Istanbul. Nearly 15 Hyderabad businessmen are expected to participate in the summit. He said Turkey was also seriously pursuing a free trade agreement (FTA) or economic partnership agreement (EPA) with India to accelerate bilateral trade that hit a historic high of $7 billion last year from $4 billion in 2010. "India and Turkey will be economically, politically and culturally shapers of the new world. We can easily increase bilateral trade to $20 billion in a short time if we have an FTA or ETA. We have completed the joint study, which is awaiting a signing and will pave the way for the agreement." Making a strong pitch for Indian players to invest in Turkey, which is the gateway to Europe and the Middle East and would give access to over 40 markets with a population of over 1.5 billion and $23 trillion GDP, the envoy said Indian giants like GMR, which set up Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport, Mahindras, Wipro, Reliance, Tata and Dabur were already present in Turkey with Aditya Birla group investing $530 million in December 2011. 18 Mar 2012 http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-18/hyderabad/31207323_1_india-and-turkey-turkish-envoy-turkey-plans