ISTANBUL – Arabs had begun to view Turkey as their second homeland, Idris Demirhan, director of the Middle East department of a leading Turkish construction company, said, adding that "the investors abandoning Egypt due to the violent incidents especially choose Turkey and Dubai to buy real estate." He said Egypt was an appropriate country for investors due to its cheap labor force, but the instability had made some investors withdraw their investments. Noting that Arabs in the region including Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco seek to buy homes in a region where they will feel themselves to be comfortable in a cultural, religious and social sense, Demirhan said that Turkey was the leading country among those which included these advantages for Arab buyers. Demirhan also noted that Arabs mostly prefer provinces with a hot climate as they are familiar with hot regions, and such provinces are typically easily accessed in terms of transportation. Agaoglu Co. established an office in Dubai in order to bring investments from Gulf. — SG
