Bodrums piers

As part of the 'Urban Design Project,' which was launched in January, ports in Bodrum's Göltürkbükü district were demolished but the ones where upper-class tourists spend their holiday were not touched. Hoteliers in the poorer parts of the district raise their voices to stop this unfair treatment

Bodrum - Doğan News Agency


A project launched by the mayor of a popular resort town in the Aegean city of Muğla has drawn harsh criticism from locals as nearly 30 piers in the region have been demolished since the project came into effect in January.

Through the “Urban Design Project,” initiated by Göltürkbükü Mayor Halil İbrahim Kaynar in, nearly 30 piers were demolished in the region's “Anatolian side,” a popular holiday destination for mostly mid-income tourists.

However, Bodrum District Administrator Abdullah Kalkan terminated the project because it was unlicensed and the deluxe piers on the “European side,” where upper-class tourists choose to spend their vacation, were not touched.

Moreover, the construction of bars and restaurants had started on new unlicensed piers before the start of the tourism season.

Following these developments a group of entrepreneurs presented the municipality a petition with 100 signatures and demanded that this unfair treatment is stopped.



'Piers of the poor' demolished

“This was the show of Mayor Kaynar before the opening of the season, said Taşkın Bıçak, who has been operating a hotel in the region for 22 years, voicing similar concerns as many hoteliers in the region.

“The unlicensed project demolished the piers of the poor but the ones where high society spends its holidays were not touched and also new unlicensed ones were constructed. They will anchor their jet-skis in these piers to sunbathe and nobody will touch them. It is impossible for ordinary people to walk and swim in this part of the region. Kaynar's power was only enough for the poor. If such a project is implemented, all piers should have been demolished at the same time,” he said.

Bıçak said they had presented a petition about the issue to the municipality and the district administration. “Because while one side continues making money over the ports, the other side will not be able to take advantage of them.”



'High society wants exclusive piers'

“Prices here are seven to eight times more expensive than in the section where piers were demolished. The rich and high-society people prefer this section. They feel ill-at-ease to see the low-income people, who can't afford to eat and drink here in the same place,” said Yelda Gören, the manager of Fidele Restaurant Beach Club, which is the first facility that has opened the season in the district.

Noting that he has been operating a hotel in Göltürkbükü for 12 years, Gören said Göltürkbükü owes its tourism to those ports.

Gören said, “Our customers are A-plus people. We are the first one that have opened the season here. If the project is in favor of Bodrum, we are ready to demolish our pier. But we want to do it at the end of the season because customers are coming.”



'Nobody will be deprived a privilege'

Kaynar said the “Urban Design Project” had been waiting for 16 months for the approval of the Public Works Ministry, but because of political reasons it was not approved.

He said, “Let nobody think that the piers of the high-society won't be demolished. This project is valid for nearly 7 kilometers along the Göltürkbükü coast. The beauty of the coast has appeared with the removal of the ports. We don't fill the sea but rearrange the coast here. We want the coast to get its natural appearance. The piers in the high-society section turned the sea into a wood cemetery. We could not demolish the other ports because the project was halted by the district administration. But the piers 90 percent of which are unlicensed, will be demolished within three to five months.”

He said nobody would be deprived a privilege and the “European side” would be open to the public. “When the project is finished in two years, Göltürkbükü will be one of the most modern holiday resorts of our country and Europe,” he said.