Economy
THY signs simulator deals, joins sustainable aviation fuel fund
National flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) has signed three major agreements to enhance its pilot training quality with new simulator procurement and support sustainable aviation fuel production, its chair said Wednesday.
The deals were signed on the sidelines of the Farnborough Airshow, the premier gathering of the aerospace and defense industry.
Chair Murat Şeker said the airline had concluded agreements with defense technology company Havelsan, Canadian Aviation Electronics (CAE) and the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Financing Alliance (SAFFA) Fund.
The contract with Havelsan covers eight full-flight simulators and four flight training devices, while the agreement with CAE includes seven full-flight simulators, including two optional units, and two flight training devices.
The orders, covering both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft types, are intended to strengthen the airline’s training infrastructure as its fleet expansion drives demand for more pilots, Şeker said in a post on LinkedIn.
He added that THY also joined the SAFFA Fund, an initiative established to expand sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production capacity and support the aviation industry’s carbon reduction goals.
“With our long-term growth strategy, our sustainability-focused goals and our vision for supply chain security, we will further expand our investments in the future and transformation of the global aviation industry,” Şeker said.
Turkish Airlines has orders in place for nearly 420 aircraft, including Airbus and Boeing jets, with negotiations continuing for an additional 100 Boeing planes.
The company plans to expand its nonstop long-haul network by deploying ultra-long-range aircraft from late 2027, enabling direct flights to destinations in Australia and South America.
On Tuesday, Şeker said the carrier was also evaluating acquisition opportunities involving airlines, cargo operators and maintenance facilities, with Asia and South America emerging as likely regions for future investments.
Under its 2033 strategy, Turkish Airlines, which already serves more countries than almost any other carrier in the world, plans a major fleet replacement and expansion to around 800 aircraft. Its fleet included over 540 planes as of the end of May.
Türkiye and Syria are working to open the Nusaybin-Qamishli border crossing “as soon as possible,” as the two neighbors seek to expand trade and strengthen regional transport corridors, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said Wednesday.
Bolat made the remarks after meeting Qutayba Badawi, head of the Syrian Customs and Border Crossings Authority, in Ankara.
Bolat said the reopening of regional transit corridors linking Europe through Türkiye and Syria to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, as well as routes extending from Türkiye through Syria to Iraq and Kuwait, represented important progress.
Transit trade through the Cilvegözü border gate in southeastern Hatay province and the Akçakale crossing in Şanlıurfa province currently allows goods to move toward Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, with nearly 300 trucks crossing daily, he said.
“We are working together to open the Nusaybin-Qamishli border crossing as soon as possible,” Bolat said. He was referring to a point that links Turkish province Mardin’s Nusaybin district with Syria’s Qamishli region.
Bolat added that recent geopolitical tensions, including disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz, had highlighted the strategic importance of new oil and natural gas pipelines as well as road and rail transport corridors connecting Türkiye, Syria, Iraq and the Gulf states.
Syria’s Badawi said six border crossings between the two countries were currently operating at full capacity, five of them open to both commercial traffic and passenger crossings, while the Kesab crossing, also known as the Yayladağı Border Gate, serves only passenger traffic.
“The Nusaybin-Qamishli crossing will become operational in the near future,” he said, adding that this would increase the number of 24-hour border crossings between the two countries to seven.
Bilateral trade goal
Bolat said the two governments were working in close coordination, aiming to raise bilateral trade to the previously announced target of $10 billion annually.
Trade between the two countries reached $3.7 billion in the first year after opposition forces ousted longtime dictator Bashar Assad in late 2024, marking growth of more than 40%.
Bolat said both sides were working to further increase that figure this year.
He said Turkish companies were cooperating closely with Syrian authorities on energy, transport, infrastructure, construction and contracting projects, while a joint customs committee established under an agreement signed last year was coordinating customs-related cooperation.
German prosecutors searched offices at Deutsche Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt on Wednesday as part of an investigation into alleged fraudulent tax transactions linked to the lender’s Postbank unit years earlier.
The bank confirmed that Duesseldorf prosecutors were at its office in the city, and that the probe related to transactions at its Postbank division between 2008 and 2010.
“Deutsche Bank is being searched as a third party in this matter and we are cooperating fully,” Deutsche Bank said, declining to comment further.
Duesseldorf prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Probe relates to ‘cum-cum’ trades
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters the search involved so-called cum-cum trades, confirming German media reports.
Such schemes involved trading in stocks of German companies around dividend payout days, which authorities say amounted to tax fraud.
The transactions flourished during the financial crisis, and authorities estimated they stripped state coffers of billions. A years-long crackdown has since sought to claw back the money.
The alleged roles of German financial firms in cum-cum trades, as well as in related cum-ex deals, are likely to cost the industry around 7 billion euros ($8 billion), German financial watchdog BaFin said last week, citing a survey.
It marks the third time that prosecutors are known to have searched Deutsche Bank this year. A case earlier this year related to money laundering, and a second last week was related to its retail bank.
Deutsche Bank bought up Postbank, with its millions of clients and roots in the country’s postal system, in phases, starting in 2008.
In 2023, Deutsche Bank’s years-long technology integration process with Postbank caused glitches and service lapses, resulting in scrutiny by its regulator. A year later, legal issues over Deutsche’s takeover of Postbank pushed the bank to post a loss, breaking a long profit streak.
Ten former managers at Postbank have been named as suspects, with damages of 350 million euros to the German state coffers, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported.
Türkiye on Wednesday laid the foundation for a new flagship data center that it says will strengthen the country’s digital sovereignty, cybersecurity resilience and artificial intelligence infrastructure, as it seeks to expand domestic control over critical digital assets.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu described the facility of the state-owned satellite communications firm Türksat in the capital Ankara as “Türkiye’s new digital fortress.”
Uraloğlu stressed the center would ensure that critical data remain within the country’s borders. “We are establishing sovereignty over our data on our own soil,” he said. “This is not just a concrete structure, but Türkiye’s new digital fortress.”
The project forms part of Ankara’s strategy to expand domestic digital infrastructure and reduce reliance on foreign technology providers amid growing geopolitical competition over data, artificial intelligence and cyber capabilities.
Uraloğlu said the facility would include six system halls, two high-performance computing rooms with 20 cabinets each, 6,300 square meters (67,800 square feet) of white space and office space for 200 employees.
Once completed, the campus will span 35,300 square meters, making it one of Türkiye’s largest data centers. It will have an installed power capacity of 33 megavolt-amperes, while the physical capacity of Türksat’s existing data center will increase threefold in the first phase and more than eightfold after the second phase, he said.
The center is being designed to meet LEED Gold energy-efficiency standards and will feature low-carbon construction.
Regional data hub
Uraloğlu said the facility would house dedicated infrastructure for AI applications, including machine learning, deep learning, data mining, model training and high-performance computing.
The data center will also provide cloud and data services for institutions handling critical information using domestically developed software, with particular emphasis on supporting Türkiye’s e-Government platform and other public digital infrastructure, he added.
According to Uraloğlu, the center will be capable of maintaining uninterrupted operations during emergencies while helping reduce duplicated public-sector investments by consolidating cloud and data services under a single platform.
The minister said the facility could also position Türkiye as a regional data hub by offering secure hosting services to neighboring countries and Turkic states.
Construction is expected to be completed within about 18 months, with operations scheduled to begin in early 2028.
Satellite expansion
Uraloğlu also outlined Türkiye’s expanding satellite ambitions, noting that Türksat currently operates six active satellites at orbital positions of 31, 42 and 50 degrees east, providing coverage to an estimated 5.5 billion people, roughly two-thirds of the world’s population.
He said the domestically developed Türksat 6A, produced with more than 80% local content, has enabled Türkiye to become one of only 11 countries capable of designing and manufacturing communications satellites.
The satellite’s coverage has recently expanded across South Asia, providing broadcasting services in 10 countries including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. Türksat now broadcasts a total of 550 television channels via its satellite fleet, including 69 channels through Türksat 6A’s South Asia coverage.
Uraloğlu also said Türkiye plans to sign a contract for the Türksat 7A satellite project before the end of the year.
The satellite, scheduled to enter service by the end of 2029, will replace the aging Türksat 3A and offer higher data capacity, broader coverage and more flexible resource management.
Uraloğlu also recalled that Türksat had recently signed a strategic partnership with Qatar-based satellite operator Es’hailSat to jointly utilize capacity on the future Es’hail-3/Türksat-Biruni satellite at the 50-degree east orbital slot.
Türkiye’s Mediterranean tourism hub Antalya has welcomed more than 6.5 million foreign visitors since the start of the year, as hotels approach full occupancy during the peak summer season.
The city, one of the world’s most visited holiday destinations, has attracted tourists from across the globe, with Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom remaining its largest source markets. The Ukrainian market has also shown growth compared with last year.
Hakan Saatçioğlu, head of the Professional Hotel Managers Association (POYD), said the sector had a slower-than-expected early booking period due to geopolitical tensions, including U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, but activity increased significantly from July.
Saatçioğlu said Antalya hosted 6.27 million foreign tourists in the first six months of last year, compared with 5.7 million in the same period this year.
However, arrivals exceeded 6.5 million by July 20, he said, adding that the figure could approach 8 million by the end of the month.
“We are slightly below last year’s level. Russia remains our largest market, as always. Germany is our second-largest market and the U.K. is third, followed by Poland, the Netherlands and Ukraine,” Saatçioğlu said.
Hotels near full capacity
Saatçioğlu said hotel occupancy rates have reached high levels, ranging between 90% and close to 100%.
“Occupancy rates have reached around 90% to 100%. Things are going well at the moment,” he said.
He added that domestic tourism has also gained momentum with the start of school holidays.
Future reservations from both foreign and domestic visitors remain strong, Saatçioğlu said, noting that July and August bookings are at similar levels to last year.
“Reservations are progressing very well. When we compare July and August bookings this year with last year, they are at the same levels,” he said.
Tourism season expected to extend
Saatçioğlu said reservations continue through the end of November and that many hotels could delay their seasonal closures again this year.
He noted that hotels extended operations into the winter period last year due to strong demand and said a similar trend is expected this year.
“The season is likely to extend. (U.N.-backed climate conference) COP31, which will be held in Antalya until Nov. 20, will bring strong reservations, especially for areas such as Kaleiçi, the city center, Lara and Belek,” he said.
Saatçioğlu added that leisure tourism bookings from abroad would likely shift toward areas such as Manavgat and Kemer, further supporting an extended tourism season.
An autonomous agent powered by OpenAI’s advanced AI models went rogue during a security test last week and launched a hack that breached the infrastructure of a popular platform for programmers, the ChatGPT maker said on Tuesday.
In a blog post, OpenAI said it was testing the capabilities of some of its most advanced models in a controlled environment but that the agent managed to escape containment, reach the internet and break into AI startup Hugging Face to try to satisfy its testing goal.
The San Francisco firm said the breakout was “an unprecedented cyber incident, involving state-of-the-art cyber capabilities” and that the company was reinforcing its safeguards.
AI models that underpin tools like chatbots and image generators are known as agents when they act autonomously to carry out tasks in the real world.
As the technology quickly becomes more sophisticated, cybersecurity is in the spotlight given the risk of advanced AI finding weak points in existing software before humans do.
OpenAI said the incident involved a combination of models, including its recently launched GPT-5.6 Sol “and an even more capable pre-release model.”
Hugging Face, a platform used to host open-source large language models and datasets, caused a stir in the cybersecurity community when it said in a blog post last week that it had been the target of a hack that “was different from anything we had handled before” in that “it was driven, end to end, by an autonomous AI agent system.”
‘Mind-blowing’
In a post to the social media platform X, Hugging Face co-founder Clement Delangue said the company suspected the hack “might have come from a frontier lab, given the sophistication of the agent. Turns out it did!” He added: “It’s quite mind-blowing that all of this happened autonomously!”
OpenAI’s disclosure that its advanced models were responsible for the breach, despite having placed them in what it described as “a highly isolated environment,” will likely intensify disquiet over the power and risk of frontier models.
Representative Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat, said the incident was alarming.
“AI is developing extremely fast with no real regulations to keep us safe,” he said in a statement, calling for mandatory independent safety testing, mandatory disclosure of security incidents, and international cooperation “to keep people safe from absolute disaster.”
The Office of the National Cyber Director, the U.S. cyber defense agency CISA, and the U.S. National Security Agency did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Katie Moussouris, chief executive of Luta Security, said that the incident was a harbinger of breaches to come, saying that today’s models were “like the world’s cleverest octopus escape artists, with unlimited prehensile arms and the ability to squeeze through anywhere.”
She said that “labs and government evaluators need to work on the ability to contain, monitor, and disclose to affected parties when an AI pulls another Houdini, ideally before it harms a third party. None exist today.”
GPT-5.6 and other cutting-edge models, including the Mythos series from OpenAI’s archrival Anthropic, have drawn concern over their potential to breach cybersecurity defenses.
Both U.S. firms had to temporarily withhold the general release of these latest technologies because of fears in Washington that they could help break into crucial infrastructure.
Matt Suiche, an engineer at agentic AI cybersecurity company Tolmo, said the latest incident showed that the frontier models were “closing the gap with state-of-the-art attackers.”
But he said that the sorts of breaches outlined in OpenAI’s blog post were possible to carry out with technology that was available well beyond the walls of frontier research labs.
“This is what we’ve already seen internally, with our agents we already have results like this,” Suiche said. “We don’t even have to use the latest models.”
Türkiye is establishing itself as a premier haven for Russian real estate investors, boasting robust infrastructure, advanced transport networks and a high quality of life, according to officials and executives.
Tanju Bilgiç, the Turkish ambassador to Moscow, said recent developments in the Gulf have made Türkiye an even stronger alternative investment hub thanks to its stability during turbulent times worldwide.
“Türkiye maintains its appeal for Russian nationals due to its climate, strong transportation network, reliable and transparent land registry system, advanced infrastructure, modern cities, high rental yield potential and cultural affinity,” he said.
Bilgiç was speaking during a recent webinar held by the Türkiye-Russia Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK).
He noted that Russians are the top foreign buyers of residential properties in Türkiye, adding that Turkish TV series have played a role in boosting this interest.
The ambassador said Russian investors’ interest could be further increased if Türkiye’s investment opportunities were promoted more strongly in the Russian market.
Izzet Ekmekçibaşı, chair of the Türkiye-Russia Business Council of DEIK, said geopolitical tensions around the Strait of Hormuz have intensified the need for stable investment environments, prompting investors to turn their attention to Türkiye’s real estate market.
Neşecan Çekici, chair of the Real Estate Investors’ Association (GYODER), said investors are more focused on trust and legal certainty than on investment returns, noting that bilateral cooperation between Türkiye and Russia should expand to include sectors such as logistics, health care, data centers and urban renewal.
Zafer Baysal, a board member of both the Housing Developers’ and Investors’ Association (KONUTDER) and GYODER, said foreign investors are no longer making investment decisions primarily to obtain citizenship. Instead, they are seeking refuge from global uncertainty and prioritizing prime locations, liquidity, and long-term security.
Baysal said Türkiye serves as a critical gateway to the Mediterranean while bridging Asia and Europe, offering unique investment opportunities and a high standard of living.
Ekaterina Avdeeva, chair of the Real Estate Investments Commission at the Russian Chamber of Commerce, said Russian investor interest in Türkiye has surged 20% since the beginning of the year.
Avdeeva said Russian investors continue to favor destinations such as Istanbul, Antalya, Mersin, and Bodrum, reflecting sustained demand for both major cities and tourist destinations.
She noted that modern investors prioritize long-term capital security and transparency over price advantages.
She added that Türkiye meets foreign investors’ expectations through its legal framework, investment environment and transportation infrastructure, making it an attractive destination amid global market volatility.
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