Since the moment I started to prepare this brochure I lived a sweet obsession. How could I reflect 35 years of professional life with Karavan (a little more than half of my existence), and my love impressions on Turkey, where my family emigrated to, from Venice, in 1746. From indispensable, up to date information on accommodation and meeting facilities, prepared with great care by all the team, I added many citations from poets and travellers. I believe they remain the best and most sincere way to express what they saw and how they felt, and wherever possible we have illustrated this further with pictures. Please forgive me for the numerous family notes and references, but how could I ignore such a tradition which for us in Karavan is an example to follow and improve. For you I hope it is interesting and contributes to knowing us better. Furthermore, as Karavan is working with countries, covering in excess of 7 languages, I added some interesting writings in their original form - Greek, French and Italian - this is something we hope to extend further in the future for our partners in Israel, Japan and China. Finally, I would like to ask you all for your support for our recent initiatives, indicated therein as "Lamartine in Izmir" and "Galenus of Pergamum", in pioneering international meetings and leisure visitors. We are at your disposal for any information or detail you may require. With our best wishes, Yours sincerely, Alex Baltazzi President