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Hilton Hotels Corporation has signed a non-exclusive strategic agreement with Turkish developer Kosifler Group to build about 25 new hotels in key regional locations in Turkey.

Kosifler Group will focus on introducing Hilton Garden Inn hotels across the country over the next five years. All hotels, totalling 3,500 rooms, will be managed by Hilton.

Hilton entered Turkey over 50 years ago with the opening of Hilton Istanbul and it now operates eight properties - seven Hilton hotels and one Conrad hotel - across six locations in Turkey. Over the next five years, the company anticipates it will introduce more than 40 Hilton Family hotels

The hotel group has identified the country as one of its key development regions, alongside Russia, the UK and Ireland, Italy, the Iberian Peninsula, Germany and Poland, for the expansion of the Hilton Family of hotels in Europe.

'We are confident that this alliance with the Kosifler Group will help us accelerate our expansion plans through the introduction of additional brands from the Hilton Family of Hotels to enable us to meet rising demands for quality accommodation, as well as providing a hotel product to suit all sectors and budgets,' Wolfgang Neumann, President of Hilton Hotels - Europe.

Hilton and Kosifler Group also signed a management agreement for the development of their first property - a 121-room Hilton Garden Inn which is expected to open in the city of Kutahya in the second quarter of 2010. This is the fourth Turkish Hilton Garden Inn management contract to be signed in the past six months and continues to strengthen the company's plans to expand rapidly in the country. Under another non-exclusive strategic development agreement signed last December, Hilton has already inked deals with a different Turkish company to manage new properties in Bursa, Manisa and Diyarbakir.