OREANDA-NEWS. October 19, 2011. Yandex (NASDAQ: YNDX) announced today that it has launched a new map service for Turkey. The new service offers a detailed map of Turkey that includes built-in traffic maps as well as panoramic street images of Istanbul and Ankara. These images are exclusively available on Yandex.Maps.

The launch of Yandex.Maps for Turkey is another step in Yandex’s expansion in the country. Yandex first launched a search engine and information portal in Turkey in September 2011. Now, Yandex also has maps to answer any questions its Turkish users may have.

The map service for Turkey is based on the same technology as Yandex.Maps for Russia, taking into account the Turkish system for numbering buildings and the peculiarities of the local traffic system. In conjunction with the launch of Yandex.Maps for Turkey, Yandex has also released a mobile application that features the same key capabilities as those offered on the desktop service.

Panoramic street views of Istanbul and Ankara also include photos of every major street, place of interest and feature spectacular views in these cities. Users can take a virtual walk around the Blue Mosque courtyard in Istanbul, take a stroll through Miniaturk, or even “sail” through the entire length of the Bosphorus, from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, via images taken from the water’s surface.