Istanbul set for massive film center

A district on Istanbul's western outskirts has taken a blockbuster step to become a cinema leader in Europe after laying the foundations for the Midwood Istanbul Film Studio Complex, which will be the largest on the continent.

The Midwood project will make Turkey a significant arts and cinema player in Europe, said the deputy speaker of Turkey's parliament, Mehmet Akif Hamzaçebi.

"Cinema is acting, script and technology. Actually, it is life itself but a huge infrastructure is necessary to realize all these things. Here, we are talking about a project [that will make Turkey big] enough to compete against Hollywood and Bollywood. I believe that when this project is realized, Turkey will make its name heard in the field of world cinema," he said.

Büyükçekmece Mayor Hasan Akgün said the project had great importance for not only Turkey but also the whole world. 

"Everything related to the project has been delicately planned. It is 30 minutes from Atatürk Airport and 35 minutes from the new airport. It is close to airports and also on the land transport network. When the project is done, a minimum of 10,000 people in an around Büyükçekmece will make a living from here. This is also very important to us," he said. 

Equipment of $150 million 

Ahmet San, the chair of the project developer, Midwood A.Ş., said they would bring the sector's representatives together thanks to the project. "I decided to make this project six years ago. I searched on 'who and how' for a year. I also searched for all details in the global sector for two years. I did not carry out any commercial activities when doing all these things." 

After conducting his research in Turkey and around the world, San said he decided to...