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Telegraph
7 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Turkey's Islamist-leaning government risks putting off Western tourists
A recent crackdown on booze-fuelled nightlife in the popular Turkish resort of Marmaris, and sensationalist reports that it has subsequently turned into a 'ghost town', have led to speculation that the country's conservative, Islamist-leaning government is reducing Turkey's appeal to Western tourists. This is a worry not only for the tourists concerned, many of whom return to this beautiful country time and again (not least Britons, 4.43 million of whom came in 2024), but for everyone in Turkey employed by tourism. Any significant drop in visitor numbers would be a major headache for the government too, with the industry accounting for 12 per cent of the country's GDP. But before looking at the likelihood of Turkey turning into another Dubai, where drinking is strictly regulated for visitors and forbidden for Muslims, it's worth looking at what happened in Marmaris at the beginning of the summer. Far from a curfew or slew of new, stricter rules on the closing times of bars and clubs, the local authorities simply started enforcing regulations which had been in existence over a decade. This means most bars must close at midnight, with a half-hour grace period. And the many premises on one 'zoned' street, Barlar Sokak (Street of the Bars), are permitted to stay open until 4am. A primary motivation for the local municipality, led by mayor Acar Unlü, to clamp down on bars in the town is that many were flouting existing regulations. At least 28 establishments were temporarily closed for breaking the rules, though one premise that persisted in staying open beyond the statuary time has been permanently shut. To find a raft of bars closed, and an increased police presence, when you're looking for a late-night beer in Marmaris, must have been annoying. But it's hardly evidence of a government plot to introduce ever-stricter rules around alcohol. Especially when you consider that both the municipality and the province of which it is a part are both strongholds of the staunchly secularist opposition CHP (Republican People's Party). Another much-touted reason for the clampdown is public ire about the number of bars where shirtless male waiters danced on the tables. Turkey may be a polarised country, with a sometimes-unbridgeable chasm between the ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party) and the CHP, but Turks of nearly every stripe are united in their relative conservatism. Fire-safety concerns also played their part in the 'crackdown', as part of the tabletop revelry often included sparklers and other fireworks as part of the impromptu 'show'. Both activities are now banned. I talked to long-term residents involved in the tourism trade in the pretty resort of Kaş, Turkey's outdoor adventure capital, and the resort city of Antalya, both in Antalya province. They told me that, as in Marmaris, bars in Kaş close at midnight, clubs at 1am. In Antalya, many bars remain open until 2am, though live music is required to cease at 1am. There have been no recent clampdowns or curfews in either of these major tourist centres. So what happened in Marmaris appears to have been an isolated event caused by specific circumstances. But there is little doubt that the current government, in power since 2002, have made Turkey harder for drinkers. Laws introduced in 2013 forbade alcohol to be sold within 100 metres of a mosque or school, and off licences and markets could only sell alcohol between 6am and 10pm. Alcohol advertising on TV became unlawful in the same year, with authorities even enforcing the blurring of alcoholic beverages on TV and cinema screens. Massive increases in the price of alcoholic beverages have crept in during the current government's reign too – up to 70 per cent of the retail price of many alcoholic drinks is now tax. Once considerably cheaper than the UK, a pint of beer in a cheap bar in Marmaris, Kaş or Antalya will now cost you around £4, but it's way more in more upmarket establishments. Hotel prices can be extremely high: £10 for a 33cl beer and £12 for a glass of wine are now common. The number of Turkish tourists holidaying in long-time rival Greece rather than their own country made the news in 2024. This trend shows no sign of abating – Aegean Airlines opened a new, twice-weekly route between Istanbul and Santorini at the end of May. One motivating factor for this exodus to Turkey's Aegean neighbour is that Greece is cheaper than Turkey for many things – including alcoholic drinks. A glass of wine in a modest Greek taverna is around £2.60; it's hard to find one for less than £5.50 in Turkey. But despite government-led moves to restrict opening hours, 'zone' drinking establishments and increase the price of alcoholic drinks well beyond the rate of inflation, Turkey is highly unlikely to become another Dubai. Although the number of Turks who admit to drinking is only 17 per cent, the true figures are probably much higher, and the government cannot afford to completely alienate too many of its own citizens. And tourism is far too valuable to the economy to risk putting off foreign visitors by introducing Dubai-style rules. Yet it remains impossible to gauge how much tourism in Turkey will be affected long-term by the spiralling costs of alcoholic drinks, or concerns that Turkey is becoming a less liberal destination. A friend who runs a travel agency in Antalya told me that, after a decent spring, numbers had dropped in June, and that Antalya's walled old quarter of Kaleiçi was quiet. She attributed the fall to the unrest in the wider Middle East, however. Official figures also show signs of falling demand – in late June, Hürriyet Daily News published figures from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism showing a 1.8 per cent year-on-year drop in foreign visitors for May 2025 over the preceding year, and a more modest 1 per cent overall drop in the first five months of 2025. Yet in the same five-month period, the number of Britons coming to Turkey actually rose by 1.3 per cent. In recent decades, Turkey has weathered coups and wars, terrorist atrocities, hyper-inflation and many other setbacks. Yet tourism has grown exponentially. In 2003, 16.5 million tourists came to Turkey, by 2011 that had risen to 30 million, and 57 million tourists visited in 2024, making Turkey the fourth most visited country globally. The Turks are far too resilient and resourceful to let slip the appeal of the country of which they are so proud to foreign visitors, especially when it is so vital to the economy.
The Sun
21-07-2025
- Health
- The Sun
I woke up from a three-day coma tied to a hospital bed with a brain-swelling virus after snorkelling on holiday
REBECCA Roskilly was terrified to wake up alone in a Turkish hospital with her legs strapped to the bed. The 30-year-old's ordeal grew even more frightening when she found out she had been in a coma for three days and was battling a killer brain infection. 7 7 "I thought 'oh my god, I'm going to die'," the mum, from Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, said. Just days earlier, Rebecca had set off for a seven-day holiday in Marmaris, Turkey, with her husband Vincent Roskilly-Pearson, 28, and their four children. She had been snorkelling with her kids on a boat trip but avoided putting her head underwater as she suffers from tinnitus - a permanent ringing in the ears. This is after she burst her eardrum while scuba diving 10 years ago, an injury doctors believe may have made her more vulnerable to infection. By the time she had got back to the hotel, she started experiencing tinnitus symptoms, which often includes persistent ringing, buzzing, or whooshing sound in the ears. "I thought it could be something to do with the boat trip." she said. "Lots of things can trigger it [tinnitus] but mainly noise and if I get water into it. I do try to avoid getting water in my ear. "My children are very noisy so they add to the tinnitus so I thought maybe I just need some peace and quiet. She added: "I'm no stranger to ear pain so I did not think it was going to progress into this." The next day, the family planned to visit a waterpark, but Rebecca decided to stay behind at the hotel. 'MOST TRAUMATIC DAY OF MY LIFE' My son, 18, wrote his illness off as a hangover - hours later he was dead "I said to my husband 'my ear is still doing my head in so I won't be able to enjoy it. You take the girls and I'll stay at home with the baby'," she explained. But Vincent refused to leave her side because she "didn't look right." "We were told that if he had done that he would've come back to a dead body. He went against my judgement and stayed," Rebecca said. As Rebecca began losing consciousness, her husband called for an ambulance. "I am so grateful my partner stayed with me and didn't go to the waterpark," she said. "I can be quite stubborn so I'm surprised I didn't just say 'no, just go'. I need to listen to him more." After being rushed to hospital, Rebecca was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and swelling of the brain, which left her in a coma for three days. 7 7 7 'SUCH A NIGHTMARE' Once she woke up, doctors performed a procedure on her eardrum and believe the infection may have stemmed from an undiagnosed ear issue she picked up back in the UK. Rebecca said: "Apparently [the doctors] were trying to do procedures on me and because I was so confused I was getting aggressive and lashing out. "I had to be further sedated and restrained so they could actually find out what was wrong with me. That caused me to slip into a coma for three days. "Then I woke up properly and immediately was confused where my husband and children were and what was going on and realised my arms and legs were strapped to my bed. "It was shocking. I didn't believe it when they said three days. I wouldn't wish it on anyone." She added: "It was terrified waking up hearing about brain swelling because my dad died of a haemorrhage to the brain. "They did a procedure on my ear and it was excruciating because they sawed my ear drum." The family were due to fly back home on July 3, but are now waiting until Rebecca is fit to fly and she remains on an IV drip and has to take painkillers. What is meningitis and how you can you avoid getting it? MENINGITIS is an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord (meninges). It can be very serious if not treated quickly - it can cause life-threatening sepsis and result in permanent damage to the brain or nerves. Symptoms include: a high temperature (fever) being sick a headache a rash that does not fade when a glass is rolled over it (but a rash will not always develop) a stiff neck a dislike of bright lights drowsiness or unresponsiveness seizures (fits) Call 999 for an ambulance or go to your nearest A&E immediately if you think you or someone you look after could have meningitis or sepsis. Meningitis is usually caused by a bacterial or viral infection. Bacterial meningitis is rarer but more serious than viral meningitis. Infections that cause meningitis can be spread through: sneezing coughing kissing Vaccinations offer some protection against certain causes of meningitis. These include the: MenB vaccine – offered to babies aged 8 weeks, followed by a second dose at 16 weeks and a booster at 1 year 6-in-1 vaccine – offered to babies at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age pneumococcal vaccine – 2 doses offered to babies at 12 weeks and 1 year, and a single dose offered to adults aged 65 or over Hib/MenC vaccine – offered to babies at 1 year of age MMR vaccine – offered to babies at 1 year and a second dose at 3 years and 4 months MenACWY vaccine – offered to teenagers, sixth formers and "fresher" students going to university for the first time Source: NHS "I came on this lovely holiday with my family and never expected it to turn into such a nightmare," she said. Luckily, the parent had travel insurance but her friends set up a GoFundMe page to support the family while Rebecca is unable to work. Rebecca said: "We're just stranded here. They're going to try and get me on a normal flight but they're going to get me airport assistance. I'm able to do little walks but as far as getting around an airport I don't think I'll be able to do that. "It's hard to sit up for more than about 60 minutes at the moment without needing to lie back down because my head feels like it's spinning. It's day by day. "[The GoFundMe page] is absolutely incredible. "It's been a massive help and benefit because whether the insurance drags their heels a bit on sorting my family's accommodations, the insurers say they'll pay it back but that's to be seen. "There's other costs like food and drink for my children. "Because we're self employed we've got no income right now and we're missing out on a lot of markets and events that we do." 7
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Yahoo
Turkey's Marmaris tops ranking of cheapest family trip destinations
Turkey's Marmaris has been ranked the cheapest short-haul holiday destination for UK families. The port city has the lowest prices out of 16 popular locations for a basket of 10 tourist items, Post Office Travel Money said. This included just £67.67 ($9) for a three-course meal for two adults and two children with wine and soft drinks. Other low prices included 16p for a 1.5-litre bottle of mineral water from a supermarket, £1.81 for a bottle or can of cola at a cafe or bar, and £2.61 for insect repellent. Post Office Travel Money said the low prices for UK visitors are partly due to a sharp fall in the value of the Turkish lira. Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, was found to be the second-cheapest destination, with Portugal's Algarve taking the third spot. Laura Plunkett, head of travel money at Post Office, said: 'The collapse of the lira makes Turkish resorts like Marmaris a natural choice for families. 'However, visitors should be aware that while sterling is worth a third more than last July, local prices have increased dramatically because of the currency's collapse. 'Thankfully, once the positive exchange rate is applied to those local prices, British visitors will only have to pay around 10% more than a year ago, and this increase is much lower than in many other destinations.' The total price for the basket of goods at Marmaris (£128.99) was nearly half the price compared with the most expensive destination analysed, Spain's Ibiza (£242.79). Prices for UK holidaymakers have risen in 13 of the 16 locations. Ms Plunkett added: 'We found big price variations in the destinations surveyed, particularly comparing those in the eurozone. 'For example, prices in the Algarve are almost £100 lower for the same 10 items surveyed than in Ibiza. 'This makes it vitally important for holidaymakers to do their homework and take enough travel money to cover costs in the resort they are visiting.' Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
19-07-2025
- The Independent
The cheapest short-haul holiday destination for UK families has been revealed – and its not in Spain
The cheapest short-haul holiday destination for UK families has been revealed. Marmaris in Turkey has the lowest prices out of 16 popular locations for a basket of 10 tourist items, Post Office Travel Money said. In the port city, you can get a three-course meal for two adults and two children, with wine and soft drinks, for just £67.67. Other low prices included 16p for a 1.5-litre bottle of mineral water from a supermarket, £1.81 for a bottle or can of cola at a cafe or bar, and £2.61 for insect repellent. Post Office Travel Money said the low prices for UK visitors are partly due to a sharp fall in the value of the Turkish lira. Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, was found to be the second-cheapest destination, with Portugal's Algarve taking the third spot. Laura Plunkett, head of travel money at Post Office, said: 'The collapse of the lira makes Turkish resorts like Marmaris a natural choice for families. 'However, visitors should be aware that while sterling is worth a third more than last July, local prices have increased dramatically because of the currency's collapse. 'Thankfully, once the positive exchange rate is applied to those local prices, British visitors will only have to pay around 10% more than a year ago, and this increase is much lower than in many other destinations.' The total price for the basket of goods at Marmaris (£128.99) was nearly half the price compared with the most expensive destination analysed, Spain's Ibiza (£242.79). Prices for UK holidaymakers have risen in 13 of the 16 locations. Ms Plunkett added: 'We found big price variations in the destinations surveyed, particularly comparing those in the eurozone. 'For example, prices in the Algarve are almost £100 lower for the same 10 items surveyed than in Ibiza. 'This makes it vitally important for holidaymakers to do their homework and take enough travel money to cover costs in the resort they are visiting.'
The Independent
19-07-2025
- The Independent
The budget-friendly holiday hotspot UK families are flocking to
Marmaris, Turkey, has been identified as the cheapest short-haul holiday destination for UK families, according to Post Office Travel Money. A basket of 10 common tourist items in Marmaris costs £128.99, which is nearly half the price of the most expensive destination surveyed, Ibiza. The low prices are primarily due to a significant fall in the value of the Turkish lira against the pound. Despite local price increases in Turkey, the favourable exchange rate means British visitors will only pay approximately 10 per cent more than a year ago. Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, and Portugal 's Algarve were ranked as the second and third most affordable destinations for UK holidaymakers. The cheapest short-haul holiday destination for UK families has been revealed – and its not in Spain
