Welcome to our pick of last week’s news from Fethiye and around Turkey.
Curated from various news sources.
🧿 LOCAL NEWS
Traditional Mother’s Day Bazaar Held in Fethiye
The traditional Mother’s Day Bazaar, organised by the Fethiye Tourism Promotion Culture Environment and Education Foundation (FETAV), was held in Beşkaza Square and attracted great interest from both locals and tourists.
The two-day event aimed to support productive mothers by providing them with a platform to sell handmade food and souvenirs created at home. Approximately 270 stands were set up, offering a wide variety of items ranging from food products to bags and jewellery. The income generated from the bazaar was allocated to student scholarships.
The atmosphere was lively and festive, with various entertainments and dance performances taking place throughout the event. The handmade goods proved particularly popular among visitors, drawing attention from both local residents and foreign tourists.
FETAV Director Dilek Dinçer said, “We held our traditional Mother’s Day event to support productive mothers and celebrate together. There was great interest. With 270 participants, it was a beautiful event enriched by dance and rhythm groups.”
Source: https://www.fethiyetv.com/fethiyede-geleneksel-anneler-gunu-kermesi-kuruldu
Number of Caretta Caretta Nests on İztuzu Beach Reaches 10
The number of endangered loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nests on İztuzu Beach in Muğla’s Ortaca district has reached 10, according to recent observations by the Sea Turtle Research, Rescue and Rehabilitation Center (DEKAMER).
DEKAMER teams and volunteers identified the nests during their ongoing efforts as part of the nesting season. To protect the vulnerable eggs from natural predators such as foxes and badgers, protective cages have been placed over each nest, and detailed records are being kept to monitor the hatching process.
Fatih Polat, Project Assistant Biologist at DEKAMER, stated that the work is being carried out with the support of the General Directorate for the Protection of Natural Assets under the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. He confirmed that the first nest of the season was found on 29 April and that the total number now stands at around 10.
Polat explained that the incubation period for the eggs ranges from 45 to 60 days, depending on air temperatures. “We expect to see the highest number of nests in June. The first hatchlings should begin emerging around mid-July,” he said, adding that egg-laying typically continues until mid-July.
İztuzu Beach is a critical nesting site for the Caretta caretta species in the Mediterranean and remains a focal point for conservation efforts in the region.
Marmaris Fills Trailer with Rubbish in One Hour During ‘The Forest is Mine’ Campaign
As part of the nationwide “The Forest is Mine” initiative led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, residents and officials in Marmaris gathered to clean up forested areas and raise awareness about fire prevention. In just one hour, participants collected a trailer full of garbage from a 500-square-metre area in the Aktaş region of the Adaköy neighbourhood.
Marmaris, a district frequently affected by forest fires, took part in the campaign with high-level participation and strong community engagement. The initiative aims to remove flammable materials from forest edges and interiors to help prevent wildfires before they start.
Before the clean-up began, Marmaris Forest Enterprise Manager Gökhan Şahin highlighted the importance of the campaign:
“This campaign, launched under the leadership of our Minister and President, is about eliminating fire hazards and keeping our forests clean. Marmaris was the first to implement this campaign in Turkey, and we’re proud to continue leading the way.”
Marmaris District Governor Nurullah Kaya, who joined the clean-up, also stressed the importance of prevention in fighting wildfires. Putting on gloves and personally collecting litter, he remarked:
“We see today whether our forests are clean or not. The forest belongs to all of us. We’re finding and removing glass pieces, which pose a major fire risk. We ask all citizens to take responsibility for our nature, our homeland, and our future.”
One of the most striking contributions came from 12-year-old Mustafa Güldal, a student volunteer, who voiced his disappointment at the careless littering:
“People who throw garbage are risking their own future. Most of what we picked up were alcohol bottles, meat containers, plastic, and PET bottles. If you want to enjoy nature, please do it responsibly.”
The event was organised by the Marmaris Forest Management Directorate and saw participation from a broad coalition of community members and officials. These included the District Governor, forest workers, gendarmerie and coast guard teams, the District Health Director, and students from a local private school.
The Marmaris clean-up served not only as a physical act of forest protection but also as a powerful reminder of shared responsibility in safeguarding nature for future generations.
4th Fethiye Photography Festival Launched with Full Programme
The 4th Fethiye Photography Festival began with an opening ceremony that marked the start of a vibrant programme featuring workshops, exhibitions, talks, presentations, and panel discussions.
The festival offered a rich schedule for photography enthusiasts and professionals alike, drawing interest from the local community and visitors. Held across various venues in Fethiye, the event created a platform for learning, sharing, and showcasing photographic art in all its forms.
Organisers invited the public to take part in the festival, which continued through to Sunday, 11 May.
Source: Fethiye Belediyesi
🧿 NEWS FROM AROUND TURKEY
1 dead, 20 injured in harrowing Metrobus crash in Istanbul
One person was killed and 20 others injured – two critically – after a Metrobüs slammed into another at Haramidere Sanayi Station in Beylikdüzü early Saturday, disrupting Istanbul’s rapid transit network during the morning rush.
The accident occurred when a Metrobüs heading toward Beylikdüzü slammed into another unit that had stopped at the station to pick up passengers.
The violent rear-end collision shattered windows and jolted riders from their seats.
Panic ensued as passengers forced open doors and scrambled out of the damaged vehicles before emergency crews arrived.
Medics treated several people at the scene, while others – some critically hurt – were rushed to nearby hospitals.
Authorities later confirmed that one of the injured succumbed to their wounds. Two more remain in critical condition, while 18 others are recovering under medical supervision.
Glass shards littered the asphalt, and both vehicles bore visible damage to their front and rear ends. The station was immediately closed to passenger traffic, halting service on the busy Haramidere corridor.
Officials rerouted services toward Söğütlüçeşme, with controlled, two-way operations in place as the investigation and cleanup continued.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Source: Daily Sabah
Turkey moves to silence jailed Erdoğan rival by blocking account on X
Access to the social media account of Istanbul’s jailed opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu, has been blocked by the authorities in Turkey.
Imamoğlu, who is the main rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, can no longer send messages in Turkey to his 9.7 million followers on X. His account is still accessible abroad.
His social media feed has been his main tool for communicating with his supporters and keeping himself in the public eye.
He had been posting daily by sending messages out from prison via his lawyers. “It’s like the authorities want to make him disappear,” one commentator said.
Imamoğlu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) – the main opposition party in Turkey – told the BBC that blocking his account was a continuation of “the coup attempt on 19 March”, when he was arrested.
”Now they won’t even allow him to speak to the public,” said CHP Secretary General Selin Sayek Böke. “It clearly shows the fear of those in power that they will be losing power. It’s a coup attempt against the next ballot box.”
Opinion polls suggest that Ekrem Imamoğlu, who has been elected mayor of Turkey’s largest city three times, would win a presidential election if he was able to stand.
The next presidential election is not due to be held until 2028.
A message on his account on Thursday said it had been blocked due to a legal demand, although it is still available in Turkey with the use of a virtual private network (VPN).
A lawyer representing X said he had filed a court challenge to the ban, at the request of the social media platform.
Istanbul prosecutors are investigating a post on Imamoğlu’s account, on the basis that it may constitute an incitement to commit crime, according to the president’s communications office.
In that post last month, the mayor condemned his arrest and a wider crackdown on the opposition and called on the nation to complain and “raise your voice”.
Some X users have replaced their profile pictures with images of the mayor, including Yusuf Can, analyst at the Middle East Programme of the Wilson Centre in Washington.
“Elon Musk has blocked the account of the hostage mayor and presidential candidate, upon Erdoğan’s request – silencing the country’s most prominent opposition voice. We are all Imamoglu,” he said.
The mayor has been behind bars since March on corruption charges, which he has denied.
He is being held in Marmara high security prison in Silivri, on the outskirts of the city he was elected to run.
He has plenty of company – around 100 people were arrested with him – including city officials and members of his party. Dozens more have been arrested since, including his lawyers, and lawyers acting for those lawyers.
Human rights groups say the arrests are part of an accelerating attack on civil society in Turkey.
Imamoğlu’s supporters say the charges against him are politically motivated, and that Turkey’s courts have been weaponised. The government has said the judiciary are independent.
In his most recent post, on Wednesday, Imamoğlu called on supporters to join a protest rally in Istanbul that night.
It was one of the biggest in recent weeks with tens of thousands turning up.
His arrest in March sparked the largest anti-government protests in Turkey in over a decade.
The protests were largely peaceful but around 2,000 people were arrested in just a few days, many of them students.
The demonstrations are continuing in Istanbul, and around the country, but numbers have been smaller.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgve4q99d5o
🧿 SPORT
Fethiyespor
Thank you to Brian Lloyd for the Fethiyespor update.
Fethiyespor played their final match of the season on 3rd May, suffering a home defeat.
With this result, the team concluded the season in 9th place in the league.
As the season wraps up, attention now turns to the upcoming campaign. Fixtures for the new season have not yet been announced, but the draw is typically made around mid-July. Fans will be eagerly awaiting the release of the schedule as preparations begin for the next challenge.
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Turkish Lira (TL) exchange rates
The British Pound bought 51.57 TL by the close of business on Friday. The week before it was selling for 51.20 TL.
The US Dollar bought 38.76 TL by the close of business on Friday. The week before it was selling for 38.57 TL.
The Euro bought 43.61 TL by the close of business on Friday. The week before it was selling for 41.60 TL.
Source: exchangerates.org.uk
Weather Forecast
Here’s your weather forecast for the week ahead.
Source: Living Earth
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