I
was going to write a happy blog about the lovely time Kaan and I had in England
– but recent events are too significant to be ignored. I will write about the serious stuff now and
save our holiday stories for next time.
What
happened on Friday night/Saturday in Turkey is a tragic sign of how divided
this lovely country has become. There
are all sorts of theories about who actually initiated the ‘attempted coup’
(including one that suggests it was the work of the President himself – Turkish
people love all conspiracy theories) but regardless of who is right, the
fact is that it has strengthened his position and pushed competing elements of
society further apart. It achieved
nothing and, honestly, never stood a chance of achieving anything.
What
we need is something or someone who can bring society back together and get the
country back on track; after all, very recently it was a high performer on the
world scene. Consider these figures:
·
Turkey’s world trade total
increased from $82 billion in 2000 to $389 billion in 2012.
·
Foreign Direct Investment in Turkey
jumped from $1.8 billion in 2003 to $16 billion in 2012
·
Following the outbreak of the
Arab Spring, Barack Obama telephoned Turkish PM Erdogan more than any other
world leader except Cameron (all Soner Cagaptay “The Rise of Turkey”)
And
now? The economy is stalling, investment
has of course fallen and we are the pariah of the world. One of our lovely guests sent me a mail checking
how we were and put my exact feelings into words: “Turkey
deserves better”.
However,
I can reassure you all that as far as Poppy and Calis are concerned, life
continues fairly unchanged. The sun is still
hot, the pool is still sparkling and that first sip of Efes still tastes as
good. There have been no signs of the
trouble elsewhere, though one of the guests thought they heard a tank rolling
past – it turned out to be the rubbish lorry!
The pound, which fell due to all the shenanigans in the UK to about
3.7 is now back to about 4TL. The only difference is that there are more empty
sunbeds than usual at this time of year – both at Poppy and on the beach.
A
lot of people have been, understandably, put off by events so everywhere is
quiet. Thanks to our regulars and
a few intrepid first-timers, we are doing better than some but the situation
wasn’t helped by the demise last week of LowCost Travel Group. They owe us for guests from last October and
this May and June but it could have been worse; until April this year they hadn’t
paid any of last summer’s money.
Happily,
most of the guests who have lost their bookings are now contacting me directly
to re-book their accommodation, which just shows us Brits are not easily put off!
That’s
probably enough rambling for one day. As
there are no relevant pictures to accompany the above, here is a picture of the
garden at Poppy to contrast with the previous picture – hasn’t it all grown
well (especially my vegetable patch at the end from which the tortoises have been banned!)
