15 April 2011

Turkey: Tiptoeing Across The Bosphorus

imageI do my best to keep this blog apolitical and focused on international advertising and marketing to Baby Boomers. A warning: I’ll be tiptoeing across The Bosphorus with this one.

A year ago I was in Istanbul, heading up a day-long marketing/advertising workshop:

Back from Istanbul.
There are 15 million people living in Istanbul – and I think I saw all of them.  And I met about two dozen of the brightest.

Back From Istanbul: Part Two

Back From Istanbul: Part Three

Back From Istanbul: Part Four

Months later:

Turkey: A Bright Star In The Region
The EU: Many European countries want Turkey to join because it’s an economic, political, and cultural powerhouse.  Many European countries do not want Turkey to join because it’s an economic, political, and cultural powerhouse.

Now we have upheavals in the Middle East.  While not perfect, while there are political and cultural divisions in Turkey that mirror our own and other countries – the Turkish economic/political model is a valid one for Middle Eastern countries to consider. 

NPR recently ran a profile of Turkey.  It’s worth ten minutes of your time:

Turkish Democracy: A Model For Other Countries?

I’ll shut up now before I get into any more trouble.