Garanti Bank is the second largest-private bank in Turkey with US$90 billion in assets as of December 31, 2010. On November 2, 2010 BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria), Spain's second largest bank, acquired 24.9% stake in Garanti Bank for $5.8 billion. Garanti provides retail, commercial, corporate and private banking services to ten million customers. It operates 853 domestic branches, six foreign branches (in Luxembourg, Malta and Northern Cyprus, four international representative offices (in Moscow, London, Düsseldorf, and Shangai), over 3.000 ATM, a call centre and an Internet bank. Financial magazine Euromoney has picked Garanti Bank as "Best Bank in Turkey" for eleventh time in 2011. Garanti Bank is also recognized as the "Best Managed Company in Central and Eastern Europe" by Euromoney Institutional PLC, being the first Turkish Bank entitled to this award. Other awards include silver certificate from IIP(Investors in People), gold medal from ContactCenterWorld organization, Best Banking Group by World Finance Magazine.

Erkin Koray (born June 24, 1941, in Kadikoy, Istanbul), has been in the Turkish rock music scene since the late 1950s or early 1960s. He is widely acclaimed as being the first person to ever play rock and roll in Turkey; in 1957, he and his band gained fame by playing covers of Elvis Presley and Fats Domino. He was also one of the first Turkish musicians to embrace the electric guitar and modern amplification.

By the late 1960s, he was already a major figure in Turkish psychedelic music and Anatolian Rock, beginning with his first psychedelic single Anma Arkadaş in 1967. Koray followed this with a number of singles, both by himself and in collaboration with others, that established him as a force to be reckoned with on the Turkish rock scene. Koray became a controversial figure in Turkey during the 1960s and 1970s; he was actually assaulted in Istanbul, and on one occasion stabbed, for having long hair.

In the early 1970s, he formed the group Ter with the former members of Grup Bunalim (Turkish for "Group Depression"), a power trio styled group. Although they only recorded one single before breaking up, Hor Görme Garibi (a cover of the major Arabesque music hit by Orhan Gencebay) was a smash hit, furthering Koray's career. The music of Ter was influenced by fuzz rock and psychedelia, and featured extended guitar solos and progressive arrangements - something that the record company was not prepared to accept.

Melih Kibar (6 September 1951 – 7 April 2005) was a Turkish composer.

Born in Istanbul, he graduated from the German High School Istanbul and studied chemical engineering at Bosphorus University. He received a Master's degree from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.

At the age of eight, Kibar enrolled at the Conservatory of Istanbul Municipality. He started his musical career in the school years and won a first prize as composer at the Milliyet High School Music Contest in 1970. Until 1975 he worked with Timur Selçuk. Since 1975, he composed 273 tunes, 9 musicals and 32 film musicals in cooperation with various artists, in particular with lyricist Çiğdem Talu. In 1976, he received the Golden Orange prize for the soundtrack of the film "Hababam Sınıfı". Melih Kibar participated in various international festivals and was winner of many prizes in Turkey and abroad. At the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 held in Bergen, Norway, his song "Halley" and at the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 held in Dublin, Ireland, his another song "Sev!" represented Turkey.