Basic Lead, the organizer of DISCOP ISTANBUL today announced that close to 300 companies will be attending the upcoming second edition of the event, which takes place from 28 February to 1 March.

President Abdullah Gul of Turkey yesterday called upon business leaders in the UAE and Turkey to help enhance economic cooperation. Gul said the two countries would like to see trade increase from $5 billion (Dh18.35 billion) in 2011 to $10 billion in 2015.

Russia accuses the UN of forcing Syria into a civil war with the new draft resolution that will demand President Bashar Al Assad to step down. A senior Russian diplomat has said that the UN’s draft resolution to deal with the violence in Syria, which includes a demand that Syrian President Bashar Al Assad step aside, is a “path to civil war”.

The International Monetary Fund lowered its outlook for the world economy on Tuesday, and warned that the global financial system faces growing risks from the debt crisis in Europe. The IMF now expects the global economy to grow 3.3% in 2012, according to an update to its World Economic Outlook. In September, the IMF said the global economy would expand 4% this year.

The recent uptick in PMI numbers in the US and the EM world has many wondering whether the growth slowdown is over and done with. While this is likely true for some EM economies, particularly LatAm economies, one would caution against taking such a benign view of these data points at this stage for the rest of the EM world. Risks to external demand from Europe as well as the US (where we can expect growth to slow down to about 2% in early 2012) are still to the downside. EM domestic demand is still slowing down thanks to weaker external demand and domestic tightening in 2011. Many policy-makers were less willing to unshackle growth in 2011 due to concerns about inflation but have much more legroom now that EM inflation is on its way down. Growth moderation will likely begin sometime in 2Q for the EM world.

Russian energy companies Rosneft and Transneft are seeking a 25 per cent stake in a planned Turkish oil pipeline, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin has said. The pipeline, to be built by Turkey's Calik Holding and Eni of Italy, will link the Turkish ports of Samsun and Ceyhan and has strong backing from the Turkish government. "It is anticipated that two Russian companies, Rosneft and Transneft, will join the project.

I recently received the following question: “I am getting married to a Turk soon. I am a foreign citizen and a resident of Turkey. I have been told that I needed to get my birth certificate translated into Turkish, which I have done. I have also been told that the Turkish authorities might need other documents. Can you please explain to me the process of what I need to do to get married? Can you please help me? Thank you.

Turkish intellectual property law, Sometimes lawyers feel that all those violations experienced by their clients will never touch them. This is certainly not the case. It happens to us, too. Just recently, I was wandering in a bookshop, and I checked the legal books section, and what did I find but a legal guidebook for foreigners living in Turkey that had just been released.

What we do in Kusadasi and around: castration, medical care, emergency treatment and feeding, “Umut-Evi” is Turkish and means house of hope – a society which stands up for street animals in Turkey. We focus on castration to reduce the amount of street animals in the long term, especially to decrease the misery of puppies. Everybody is working on honorary capacity. That’s why we are relying on your donation – and we need your help in field work! The life of Turkish street animals is very hard. The dogs and cats are exposed to extreme heat or extreme cold, suffer from hunger and thirst, are being injured from other animals through fight to survive and are being chased, tortured and poisoned by human being.

In a world of economic uncertainty and fluctuating markets, investor decisions have become increasingly fragile particularly in the property sector. Now we are in 2012, it is important to look upon current trends and utilise market knowledge to assess this year's global property market.