Perceptions of office rent determinants by real estate brokerage firms in Istanbul

Studies on the office rent prediction models have been on the rise for the last quarter of this century. The extent of variables used in the proposed models changes significantly, reflecting variations in locational and/or economical conditions of the region. The viewpoint of brokerage firms on the effectiveness of these academically defined variables is important. The benefit of obtaining these viewpoints is two-fold. Firstly, it will provide some evidence on whether or not the reported influences of these variables remain the same in different markets, in this case, in the I˙stanbul office market. Secondly, it may define how well practitioners' criteria fit academically defined variables during the decision-making process for a new office investment, especially in the I˙stanbul office market. The study derives the currently well established locational, building, econometric and contract variables from previously published research. Two different influence scales of these variables were constructed. The first scale was based on the result of a survey study administrated to 10 leading real estate brokerage firms in I˙stanbul and the second was based on the reported influences from previous publications. Comparing the influence scales, contradictory and parallel findings were determined, indicative conclusions, revealing the unique structure of I˙stanbul, were drawn. Among the 47 comparable office rent variables, the influence of 17 was found to agree well in both scales. Except econometric variables, most variables in I˙stanbul revealed different influences than globally determined influences.     

Egyptian Blue cakes from the Ayanis fortress (Eastern Anatolia,Turkey): micro-chemical and -structural investigations for the identification of manufacturing process and provenance

The microstructure and chemical composition of blue cakes, found during the archaeological excavation of the Ayanis fortress (Eastern Anatolia, Turkey), have been investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM–EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-Raman (μ-Raman) and optical microscopy (OM) techniques. The analysis of the Ayanis cakes has shown the presence of Egyptian blue (i.e. CuCaOSi₄O₁₀, cuprorivaite), as the major component, intermixed with minor amount of other phases such as partially reacted quartz grains, an adherent glass phase and copper oxides. Since the finding of Egyptian Blue in Turkey has been never reported so far, great attention has been paid to its characterisation. The micro-chemical and micro-structural investigations of the Ayanis cakes have allowed a further insight into the manufacturing process and into the sources of the starting materials. The results of the characterisation have revealed some significant differences with respect to Egyptian blue cakes found in Egypt and Mesopotamia, as for instance the absence of tin excluded the use of bronze scraps or filings in their preparation differently from those produced in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Furthermore, some peculiarities of Egyptian blue found in Ayanis, as the detection of zinc in the cakes, allow to put forward the hypothesis of a local production considering that a large part of the bronze artefacts found at the Ayanis fortress is characterised by the presence of zinc as minor alloying element.     

Long‐distance interaction in Urartu?: Provenance and composition of copper alloys from Ayanis,Turkey

The paper analyses tin bronze weaponry found at the first‐half‐of‐the‐seventh‐century‐BCE Urartian fortress in the Lake Van region of eastern Turkey. Examples of finely manufactured artefacts provide evidence for the consumption of high‐quality bronzes in a well‐defined elite context. This study tests for the presence or absence of long‐distance procurement of the raw materials used to produce status objects. The results of quantitative elemental and lead isotope abundance ratio analyses show that the bronzes were produced with varying copper tin alloys, and the copper was procured from several possible locations, including Anatolia and Cyprus.