Hilton Hotels Corp. said Thursday that it has entered an agreement to develop 25 hotels in Turkey.

The Beverly Hills-based hotel chain, which was purchased for $20 billion in October by the Blackstone Group, said that over the next five years it will introduce Hilton Garden Inn hotels across the country, all of which Hilton plans to manage. Hilton added that it expects the entire project will comprise of 3,500 rooms.

“Hilton has enjoyed a longstanding and successful relationship with Turkey, having gained a foothold some 53 years ago when we opened Hilton Istanbul, but even today the country still represents an exciting growth opportunity for us,” Wolfgang Neumann, president of Hilton Hotels-Europe, said.

Hilton signed a management agreement with the Kosifler Group for the development of the first property – a 121-room Hilton Garden Inn in the city of Kutahya scheduled to be completed in October of 2010.

This is Hilton’s fourth management contract signed in Turkey over the past six months and is part of the hotel chain’s plans to “expand rapidly in the country,” Hilton said in a release. Hilton has named Turkey as one of its key development regions, along with Russia, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Iberian Peninsula, Germany and Poland.

Hilton currently operates eight properties seven Hilton hotels and one Conrad hotel in six locations in Turkey.