Tim Cook will reportedly travel to Turkey next year for the opening of Apple's first store in the country on February 4, reports emlakkulisi.com [Google Translate]. The store is located in the city of Istanbul at the new multi-use Zorlu Center and has undergone construction over the past few years, and was reported to open in the beginning of 2014.
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According to report, Cook will also meet with Turkish President Abdullah Gül during his visit, with talks most likely centering around the $4.5 billion iPad education initiative that was discussed between Apple executives and the country's president earlier this year. Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also visited Apple in May as a part of the ongoing negotiations. In total, the program would reportedly provide 10.6 million tablets to Turkish schoolchildren.
Apple has been making a significant push into the Turkish market for quite some time, with having listed initial job postings for stores in the country last November. The company also launched the iTunes Store for music and movies in Turkey last year.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Retail store is going to be right in the middle of Zorlu Center, a nearly finished massive project that consists of a hotel, residence, a shopping centre and an art centre. Its built on 102.000 m2 land area.
This is what it looks like from the outside
And this is gonna be the location of the store
And this is how the store looks like today I personally took last two
It goes two floors down and it has this mysterious massive door with moving led lights on just to keep it flashy and maybe to generate some more interest.
Sorry if there are too many images. Hope I could be helpful.
[MOD NOTE]
Lets keep the PRSI discussion out of the news thread
You thought we were talking about politics? We were quoting a classic novelty song made popular when it was covered a few years ago by They Might Be Giants a band that is wildly popular in the tech community.
As somebody who is Turkish I find it hilarious and sad at the same time how ignorant some kids can be.
Regarding this deal with Apple... 4.5billion dollars for iPads that will be obsolete in a matter of years is preposterous and an example of what a fail the current government can be. Moreover, how beneficial these iPads will be to students is dubious. That money could be better spent elsewhere such as improving the quality of existing schools drastically. Turkey doesn't have that kind of money to spend on soon to be obsolete tech. Ridiculous.
And I believe no one here will care about how the ministry is wasting money on irrational tablet projects while there are schools without books and decent heating and such. We call it politics. Nothing new.
So here's an update: Apple is eliminated from the bidding process. Reason is "financial inadequacy".
Now that we got rid of some off-topic comments. Here is what makes this retail store special(or maybe not so much).
Retail store is going to be right in the middle of Zorlu Center, a nearly finished massive project that consists of a hotel, residence, a shopping centre and an art centre. Its built on 102.000 m2 land area.
Sorry if there are too many images. Hope I could be helpful.
Hey, thanks for the reality check. I had the greatest time ever in Turkey, and would go back in a second if I could.