Gunay: "Turkey is a top tourism destination

Turkey is among the world's top 10 countries for tourism, and 27 million tourists visited Turkey in 2009, in a "great achievement," said Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay over the weekend. The effects of the world economic crisis that began in 2008 are still being felt in several European countries, he said. Some 7.5 million tourists visited Istanbul in 2009, and the city could attract 15 million annually within the next five years, he added.