Tectonic changes are occurring not only in the world financial system, trading and investment, energy, geopolitics, and technology; a fundamental transformation is also underway in the way the cities have been managed and regenerated, creating profound implications for mega-cities such as Istanbul. The global population is congregating in our cities. Eighty per cent of the world’s estimated nine billion people in 2050 are expected to live in urban areas. Our cities and urban areas face many challenges from social to health to environmental. The impacts of cities and urban areas are felt in other regions which supply cities with food, water and energy and absorb pollution and waste. However, the proximity of people, businesses and services associated with the very word ‘city’ means that there are also huge opportunities. Indeed, well designed, well managed urban settings offer a key opportunity for sustainable living.

Myriad trends indicate that the current world energy system is far from being sustainable. It will be shaped by rising demand over the long term, dominance of fossil fuels, inaccessible supplies, price volatility, inadequate investment, geopolitical tensions, and climate change. The most pressing decision facing the next generation may be how best to accelerate the transition from a fossil-fuel-based energy system to a system based on climate-friendly energy alternatives. Turkey has emerged as an important actor to reckon with as a consumer, transporter, investor, regional hub, and security provider in world energy and geopolitics. Likewise, Istanbul as a global city and gateway to the world’s major producers and consumers offers so much opportunities for energy investment, conservation, efficiency, distribution and shipment. It also faces serious energy-related challenges including from climate change, congestion, power black-outs, and local pollution. READ MORE

• February 2, 2011

The Rajin-Sonbong Free Trade Zone in the extreme northeast corner of North Korea was always something of a joke. The zone was created in 1991 by the late North Korean dictator Kim Il-sung when the North was in one of its periodic flirtations with Chinese-style free markets. But nothing much came of it.

• February 1, 2011

The United States and the European Union on Monday imposed sanctions against President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko and scores of other officials in Belarus for a broad crackdown on the opposition after the fraudulent presidential election late last year.

• February 1, 2011

The White House says it is troubled by reports that dozens of people detained during demonstrations in Moscow and other Russian cities have been mistreated, including accusations that some were beaten by police.

• February 1, 2011

Ministry of Economic Regulation (MER) of Kyrgyzstan intends to attract Turkish businessmen to develop the mining sector, as the head of the investment policy of MER Kubat Murzaev stated at a joint Kyrgyz-Turkish Business Forum.

• February 1, 2011

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay a two-day official visit to Kyrgyzstan on February 1

• January 31, 2011

Russian experts confirmed during a presentation of the Kaliningrad nuclear power plant project in Riga yesterday that the project will have no detrimental effect on the environment.

• January 29, 2011

Turkey has played an increasingly visible role in Arab affairs in recent years, but the country's top diplomat in the United States suggested Friday that the violence in Egypt is an internal matter.

• January 29, 2011