2009 World Puzzle Championhip Antalya - Turkey

1. 2009 World Puzzle Championhip Antalya - Turkey Presented by: Turkish Representative

2. Akıl Oyunları • Turkey has participated in all 19 of the World Puzzle Federation events so far with full teams. Akil Oyunlari (which means “Mind Games” in Turkish) Publishing is the Turkish representative of the World Puzzle Federation. • Akil Oyunlari Publishing is founded by Kamer Alyanakyan and Ferhat Calapkulu in 2003. • Kamer Alyanakyan is one of the most experienced competitors in the WPC history. He represented Turkey in all of the the first 14 WPCs and in the first WSC. In WPC 1993, he had his best individual ranking as 5th. • Ferhat Calapkulu represented Turkey as a team member, technical director or captain in numerous WPCs and WSCs. He also provided puzzle support for the WPC 2002 in Oulu, one of them being the Oulu-tronic electronic puzzle. He is the chief editor of the magazines and books published by Akil Oyunlari and has been the coordinator of all the national events. • Akil Oyunlari magazine – general puzzles • Karala magazine – Picture logic puzzles • Sudoku and Beyond magazine – Sudoku and variants

3. Akıl Oyunları – National Events • In the last 3 years, we have been conducting our national sudoku and puzzle championships in multiple stages which include qualifications, semi-finals, and final. We have held semi-finals simultaneously in as many as 6 cities. • In addition to these championships, we have been organizing many events specifically targeting schools and students. • For the last two years we have been organising Istanbul High Schools Mind Games Championships. We started with 40 schools in 2007, and reached 57 schools this year, each of which is represented by 3 students. This championship takes one full day, and consists of individual and team contests. We are trying to attract sponsors and government support in order to take the high schools championship to a national level. • Some of the other upcoming events: • 2008-2009 High Schools Mind Games League • June 2008 Ankara High Schools Championship • September 2008 İzmir Primary Schools Cship. For more information about Akil Oyunlari: www.akiloyunlari.com

4. WPC 2009 / New Trophies • With our 16 year experience, we intend to add more variety to the WPC, and by doing so, we aim to make WPC more competitive, more fun ‘to participate and to observe’. • - We would like to hold ‘team finals’ in a new match-play bracket format. • We would like to award top 3 ‘under 18’ and top 3 ‘ladies’ participants, and by doing so, spread the competition spirit further. <18 WPC 2009 WPC 2009

5. WPC 2009 We will also concentrate our efforts to inform more people in different locations of the WPF and its activities. Among our efforts will be: - To sign up new participant countries among Turkey’s neighbours and African countries; and to provide added incentives and advantages to facilitate such countries’ participation if needed. - To try to allow easier participation by press representatives from each country. - To try to get Turkish Airlines to offer discounts on ticket prices for delegations of participating countries.

6. Support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism During our visit to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in March 2008, we got verbal support from the minister himself for our efforts in organizing the 2009 World Puzzle Championship in Antalya. Our Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr Ertugrul Gunay has promised that they would help us to make such a championship a success.

7. Location - Antalya Pergamum King Attalos II ordered his soldiers to discover the retreat of heaven on earth. Upon his command, the soilders wandered around till they came to the spot on which Antalya is built today and exclaimed, "This is heaven". And so the ancient city of “Attaleia" was found. Because of the archaeological and natural riches of the area, Antalya is also known as the Turkish Riviera. The sun, sea, nature and history combine to form a very popular resort, highlighted by some of the cleanest beaches in the Mediterranean. The 630km shoreline of the province is liberally scattered with ancient cities, harbours, beaches, secluded coves and lush forests, many of which are easily accessible from the city. Numbers about Antalya Flights to Antalya As Antalya is a touristic destination, there are direct flights from numerous cities in Europe,with return prices as low as 100 euros. There are also many daily flights betwen Istanbul and Antalya operated by various local airlines. 20 :Average temperature in October in Antalya. 200 : 5 star hotels and resorts in Antalya 7.000.000 : number of foreign visitors in Antalya in 2007 For more information about Turkey and Antalya: www.goturkey.com

8. Location - Antalya With its palm-lined boulevard, internationally-acclaimed marina, and old castle with traditional architecture, all set amidst a modern city, Antalya (2007 population 775,157) is a major tourist centre in the southwest of Turkey. In addition to the wide selection of hotels, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and shops, the city also plays host to a number of sporting events throughout the year such as international beach volleyball, triathlon, golf tournaments, archery, tennis and canoeing competitions. The Cultural Centre, which opened in 1995, hosts cultural and art events in the fields of music, theatre, and creative arts. The main areas of historical interest in the city are the old quarter within the Roman walls, known as Kaleici, the unique archaelogical museum, ancient cities and the Seljuk architecture. And we should also mention that Saint Nicholas, also known as Santa Claus, was the bishop in the 4th century of the ancient town of Myra, now called Demre.

9. Hotel There are many 5-star hotels and holiday villages in Antalya. Many national and international congresses, conventions and meetings take place during the winter in Antalya. We are currently in talks with some of the Antalya hotels, each of which have hosted many such events. Among these hotels, the strongest candidate is the World of Wonders, Topkapı Palace.

10. WOW Topkapı Palace Hotel Topkapı Palace was built in compliance with typical Ottoman architecture, inspired by world famous Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. It is a luxurious facility on an area of 85,000m2. It has 908 rooms. The guests will be staying in the comfortable rooms of ‘Harem’, having meals in the ‘Kitchens of the Palace’ or ‘Hagia Irene’, getting refreshed at the ‘Fountain of Ahmet III’ at the Sultan Ahmet Square, sipping wine while enjoying the splendid view from ‘Justice Tower’, tasting the special milk pudding in ‘Mecidiye Pavilion’ and much more… Topkapı Palace has a ‘max all-inclusive concept’ with its restaurants, bars, pools, beach, spa and fitness center, all with a touch of Turkish authenticity.

11. WOW Topkapı Palace With its exclusive atmosphere, Topkapı Palace also offers the opportunity to organize conventions and conferences. All participants are entitled to make use of max all inclusive services just like holiday guests. In addition, conference meeting rooms are equipped with the necessary technology and services. And wireless internet connection is available.Topkapı conference center has a seating capacity of 1,000 pax and accommodates intelligent sound systems, professional microphone systems, overhead projectors, barco-vision, screens, panel board, flipchart and much more.There are also 2 units of 15 pax capacity workshop rooms that offer effective working environment for guests. Revan Kosk (Revan Pavillion) which is prepared for special meetings could be at our service as an effective and elite place with its 25 pax capacity, to hold the World Puzzle Federation Congress alongside the Championship.

12. Withourrelevantexperience, wearereadyandwillingtohostthe 2009 WPC. For any questions, please contact: Kamer Alyanakyan: kamer@akiloyunlari.com Ferhat Calapkulu: ferhat@akiloyunlari.com www.akiloyunlari.com