You
have probably heard on the news that the State of Emergency in Turkey has been
extended for another 3 months. While there
is nothing sinister about this in itself, there is a feeling that it is being
used too indiscriminately. In the aftermath
of the attempted coup the Government and the opposition stood together to condemn
the coup leaders; now they appear to be at war again, with the main opposition
parties suggesting the government is using the SoE to get rid of anyone who
opposes them, while the Government accuses them of being pro-coup! ‘Plus ca
change...’
...But
what about the reality for Turkey? Estimates
of this year’s business growth are, unsurprisingly, being revised down. The business that interests us most in this
area is of course tourism; an article appeared
today in the Hurriyet Daily News (English-language Turkish national newspaper) saying
that 600 shops have closed in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, while others focus
on the roughly 30% decline in foreign tourists visiting Turkey.
In
Fethiye and Calis many businesses have been badly hit. Still, looking at things positively, there
were nearly 8 million European tourists who refused to be put off by the scare-mongering and visited Turkey in the first
half of 2016. I was particularly impressed that of the guests who lost their holiday
to Poppy when Low Cost Holidays went bust - the SAME night as the ‘coup’ - 8
out of 10 re-booked direct. Though a very
small sample, it shows that us Brits are not easily scared!
The
point is that the people who know Calis and Fethiye weren’t
influenced by the very misleading stories in the papers and were still
confident about coming and luckily in Calis and at Poppy we have a lot of
regulars. We were also delighted to
welcome a few Turkey first-timers who were not about to let the very biased
press dictate their holiday. They all enjoyed
their stay and want to return.
And
who wouldn’t want to come to this beautiful place? I have lived here for nearly 25 years but I
can still discover new places...the other day I went down to the beach at Kabak
(beyond Oludeniz) for the first time. It
is a beautiful little sandy bay, stunning turquoise water and a rather
hair-raising journey down there by minibus!
The Lycian Way – the walking trail that goes from Fethiye right through
to Antalya – goes through Kabak and I am contemplating doing that section of it
next year when my friend comes. Not sure
we’d manage the trek back up from the beach though!
