Developing more and more and drawing attention thanks to increasing customer demand, Moscow, the capital of Russia, hosted four fairs held consecutively. A committee headed by Halit Narin, the Chairman of Board of Directors of Our Trade Union, also participated in the fairs entitled CPM Collection Premiere Moscow, Interstoff Rossija, Ambiante Rossija and Fashion Show Rossija, respectively. In the trip made for the purpose of visiting Turkish companies and observing what point Russia is at, CPM was the most striking fair.

This year, 33 Turkish companies participated in the CPM Moscow which was held between February 23rd and March 2nd and which is considered as the most important fashion fair of the world. Participated in the fair which held in an area of 50.100 square meters and hosted nearly 1200 participating companies from 34 countries, Turkish companies offered their best collections to Russian people following quality fashion thanks to their increasing prosperity. Turkish companies took place in two different halls and the fair in which Turkish companies exhibited their elegance collections reflecting the latest trends in their stands was much frequented by Russian people.
Another attention-drawing fair in Moscow was Interstoff Ready Wear Fabrics and Accessories Fair. In its interviews, the Board of Directors of Our Trade Union took positive comments from the companies in spite of the inadequate participation of both participants and visitors in the fair.

Employment problem continues to distress Turkey. That the steps taken have not enabled adequate increase brings along new solution seeking.
While the government, together with its new dimensions, puts on the agenda again the employment package which has been shelved for a few months, the business world continues to seek for formulas with its new proposals. On the basis of all these searches lies the vicious circle of unemployment. As it is known, according to the data from Turkish statistics Institution (TUiK), the number of the unemployed throughout Turkey decreased to 2 million 608, having decreased merely by 94 thousand in December 2006 in comparison to the same period of the previous year. The unemployment rate decreased by 0.7 % in comparison to that of December 2005 and reached to 10.5 %, and showed 0.9 increase in comparison to that of the previous month.

The international seminar titled "Turkish Textile and Clothing Sectors Beyond 2008: Threats and Opportunities" organized by the Turkish Textile Employers Association was held on February 9 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The view that pushing the sector into the second plan is the greatest "threat", and future oriented investments are going to be the greatest "opportunity" gained significance at the seminar.

The representatives of international textiles organizations who took the floor at the seminar displayed the extent of investments made worldwide on textiles, and gave the following message: "do not push the textile sector aside".

This month we are in Denizli, one of the stars of the Turkish economy. Denizli which is one of the first provinces that comes to mind when textile is mentioned, has put a check on its textile investments due to the Encouragement Act. Denizli which shares almost the same fate with Gaziantep which we featured in our last issue lost its textile investments to neighboring provinces due to the Encouragement Act. According to data from Denizli's Chamber of Industry, the reflection of this situation has also made an impact on the employment of the textile sector.

The fair chaos which attracted reaction in recent years because it was organized in two different locations at dates close to each other did not occur this year. When the representatives of the sector opened the 9th IF International Fashion Fair organized at the CNR Exhibition Centre under a single shelter this year, the number of visitors that came was beyond expected. The fair was visited by 27 thousand 452 people of which 4 thousand 263 were foreigners. The representatives of the sector described this participation before the 10th fair which is to be organized between 23-25 August 2007 as a great success. 288 firms of which 23 were foreign participated in the fair realized between 8-10 February with the joint forces of CNR Expo Fu-arcilik, the IF Council, and the Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters Association (ITKIB). World renowned Portuguese fashion designer Fatima Lopez also participated in the fair which commenced with sound and light demonstrations on the evening of February 7 at Osmanbey Matbaaci Osman Street with the "Let's go to Osmanbey" slogan. Lopez gave important support to the fair by making her world premiere in Turkey before the French Fashion Week.

State Minister Kursad Tuz men who spoke at the opening of the fair stated that 2007 is going to be more suc cessful in terms of the textile and apparel sector, and that new orders have started to return to Turkey and boosted the sector's morale.

The tradition of the Turkish Textile Employers Association (TTSIS) which is one of the long-established organizations of Turkish professional life was repeated once again. Solicitor Basar Ay, who was raised under the umbrella of the association, is specialized in the areas of industrial affairs and Business Law has been appointed to the General Secretarial position. Ba§ar Ay, who has been standing as deputy to the General Secretariat as the Vice General Secretary for the Turkish Textile Employers Association for 7 months started to work at the association as a Legal Advisor in 1992. Ay, who performed this duty for a long period was appointed as the Vice General Secretary during the last year.
Basar Ay who was born in 1965, and who is a graduate of the Ankara University Department of Law is married and has one child.