beachhhhhhh

Don't know if anyone read this article.
Saw it in the "Didim News" It's a bit long, but interesting.
Echoes of Britain perhaps...?


British Invasion in Turkey

"This week I am on holiday in Kalkan, but I can't find any Turks. How can I be in Turkey and not find a Turk?
Oh excuse me, I didn't say that I could find a Turk if I found a waiter, a cook, a cleaner or a real estate agent; otherwise, sorry, no Turks in Kalkan. Where did they go? They have been chased away from the beautiful seaside and headed for the hills after the British invasion began in earnest. One sees no young Turkish teenagers on the beach even. This is impossible. Do the Turkish people other than those who run away or the government realize that Turkey sells country to the highest bidder?"

"While the Turks do not see this as a problem today, maybe they should start questioning how much of their land they want to sell off for a little bit. What has this type of foreign investment done to the economy? Many Turks can no longer afford to buy a house, summer house (yazlik) or a car because so many foreigners buy up the land and homes increasing the prices for real estate to an all time high. Now, if the average Turk wants a piece of what was always considered the Turkish way of life, they will be hard-pressed to get it. Why? The Turkish economy grows each year and development increases; with this investment, more British and German foreigners arrive to take their place on the sunny beaches of Bodrum, Antalya, Alanya, Kalkan, Marmaris, Didim, and Kas, not to mention places of historic proportions such as Cappadocia or Goreme and Kayseri. I speak not of tourists who come and go, but foreign home buyers who then rent their places part of the year to other nationals from their home country.
Just ask any of the locals how they feel about the foreign invasion and the words won't be of the flag-waving sort. People let go of their family homes because they were forced out by the changes in their way of life. Can they afford to live because of the influx of foreign money? No, because the foreigners cook at home, walk more than take taxis, don't hire cleaners and don't want to pay the going rate for these services anyway in addition to paying few or little taxes.

Additionally, we can see where some areas in Turkey, not only force out the natives, but then petition to get a foreign mayor to represent them and let the locals know they are not welcome in their establishments. Can this be the way of globalization and will Turkey be Turkey ten years from now.
Hasan Kanbolat echoes this sentiment in the Today's Zaman that Turks are turning against more globalization because they want to preserve their historical heritage. Turkey shares many historical, linguistic, religious, cultural and ethnic ties with the people in the surrounding countries. Not only that, but the Turks are well familiar with forced migration, not wanting it to happen again.

As a foreigner, I see another type of forced migration happening which is the selling off of the best land in the country to foreigners. Selling to the highest bidder may eventually leave a Turk wondering which country they live in. To add insult to injury to the local natives, where one never saw nude sunbathers before, now we can count them in public places even offending this writer's eyes. Further, as Muslims, they do not eat pork, but now the local restaurants serve pork leaving a Muslim patron wondering if they can trust the preparation of their food.

Lale Sariibrahimoglu sees the litmus test a little different when she asks "who will protect the Turks from their protectors?" While she did not ask this question about auctioning off the land, it is a well-posed question for many unwelcomed changes occurring in the country.Right now, unemployment has decreased to 11 percent in the urban areas and 5.5 percent in the rural areas with a total labor force of only 49.3 percent of all Turks. With almost 2.5 million unemployed people never having lived in the lap of luxury and many unemployed for over a year, how does foreign home buyers help this situation.The wages are still quite low here in Turkey, especially when you compare the worker salaries with those of the West. Another 48 percent of all employment in Turkey is unregistered, yet when an entire town is taken over by foreigners, in this instance, Kalkan, the salaries do not increase nor does employment; in fact, sometimes both decrease. Can this be good for the long-term economic health of Turkey and their native citizens?

Another factor which we cannot fail to recognize is how the under-education of the Turkish society as a whole plays into the selling off of land which is valuable. The World Bank believes that only 27 percent of Turkish adults completed high school; of that, only a very small percentage ever make it to the university. All the rest have only a fifth or eighth grade education.With the strongest economy and military force in the entire region, how is it that Turkey, on one hand, has some of most historical and environmentally beautiful places on earth, yet on the other hand, allows it to be sold to the highest bidder? Maybe some of the answers can be found in low education levels combined with high unemployment which equals people desperate for money to just subsist.

The question remains: Where are the defenders of the Turkish Republic and its way of life and who will protect those who are banished from their homes leaving entire villages or small towns without a Turk to represent their homeland?

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Gazgaskell

A thought provoking article; & whilst much of it is true & a reflection of globalisation in population, the same article could almost apply to England, where mass immigration from around the world (inc Poland & Rumainia) are causing loss of traditionial jobs for the indiginous population. This invasion is changing the face of society in England in much the same way as this article suggests for Turkey. If Turkish people can get to live & work in UK & buy property it would only be fair that I can do the same in Turkey!
As much as some people would like to close the doors on immigration & globalisation, doing so will limit their own country's future. Living in western Turkey, I enjoy the cosmipolitan feel of the Bodrum penisular, which is still (& long may it say so) mostly Turkish.

Cheers,
Gaz

rosehillgirl

Hi There,

A very interesting article-although I don't agree with most of it I understand the sentiment of the author.

I have witnessed this process in Northern Cyprus-landowners selling off the land for building plots. I have also witnessed the same thing happening around Dalaman. The article seems to suggest that the landowners are somehow being 'ripped off' by the foreign investors/homeowners-in my opinion the reality is quite different. I have witnessed people with small-holdings and family land desperately trying to sell off the land to the highest bidder-not to keep the family from poverty but to buy themselves landrovers, porsche for the wife, designer clothes for the daughter, nice little runabout for the son and a new home up in the hills-two years later and it's all gone.
People of all nationalities become very greedy when there is money around-YTL signs flash before their eyes and they are only too keen to sell the 'family silver' to a builder, who is usually always Turkish (not a foreigner). The builders are very greedy and bring in cheap labour from the east instead (pay them minimum wage and give them deplorable living conditions) of employing local labour.

If the Turkish way of life is disappearing the Turks need to look at themselves rather than pin the blame on the foreigner homebuyer.
We have spent a considerable amount of money in local shops, as have hundreds of others. We do frequent local restaurants, shops etc. We (and lots more like us) want to integrate into the local community wherever possible.

I felt the gist of the article was that we are ripping off the local Turks,destroying their way of life in rural bliss, actually, we have been truly ripped off numerous times in Turkey and Northern Cyprus.

If the person who sold the land our house is built upon feels cheated- then he was cheated by his 'cousin' the builder-not us.

Ann

Ann

shirleyanntr

A good article and it echoes a lot of my personal thoughts.
However the coastal holiday home and expat housing estates are only a tiny fringe in this country...apart from property developers the great majority of Turks aren't benefiting greatly from foreign homeowners.
as the article points out the unemployment rate is dreadful..in fact it has worsened under the AK Party..something that is left out amid the glowing reports of the blooming economy.

and while we can come here and easily buy cheap property the same is not reciprocated for Turks ..in the first instance its a tiny minority that get a visa for the uk..and even fewer a work permit...and the only reason they would want to go to the uk is for work..certainly not for lifestyle or culture.

regardless of the gist of the article İ believe that we wont see the day when ordinary Turks succumb to a more western life style.

Higgy

We have a great lifestyle and loads of culture in Northumberland, but then it
is the best kept secret in Britain. But do not tell the masses.

eamonn1

Everybody wants the best price that they can get, and that applies to everybody and everything. As for property either buildings or land until Turkey regulates the real estate industry there will always be this feeling and uncertainty of whether seller's and these are obviously mostly Turkish or buyers are being ripped off. A Turkish owner of land or property asks an emlak to sell his property the emlak then looks for a foreign buyer, why because here he will make the most money not the seller but the emlak, and why, because the seller may well have agreed a selling price and the emlak gets a much higher price from a foreign buyer but does he pass this increase on to his fellow Turk? what do you think? An emlak tells the foreign buyer that the Turkish seller has learnt that a foreigner wants to purchase his property and has increased the selling price, rubbish. "Never the twain shall meet" the emalk increases the price and pockets the differance.

Turkish people are very nice, good and honest people. we have a house in a typical Turkish village. We purchased a property that needed renovating. we paid local builders to complete the renovation we gave away all the wood and recyclable items to my neigbours, and we are completely surrounded by Turkish people and their community, why because we did not want to be in a tourist overran part of Turkey. I'm told there are parts of Turkey that have 100s of new houses standing empty, who built them? Greedy Turkish builders and who wants to sell them, Greedy Turkish emlaks. Let them stand empty, go out into the villages and enjoy proper Turkish living and people. Most people are only an hour or less from these places and beaches if you want to spend some time there. The beauty for some is that we can then return to our quite Turkish village and sit on our terrace or patio and chat with our Turkish neighbours.
Eamonn.

Peaceplant

[QUOTE
[SIZE=4]Just ask any of the locals how they feel about the foreign invasion and the words won't be of the flag-waving sort. People let go of their family homes because they were forced out by the changes in their way of life. Can they afford to live because of the influx of foreign money? No, because the foreigners cook at home, walk more than take taxis, don't hire cleaners and don't want to pay the going rate for these services anyway in addition to paying few or little taxes.

Another factor which we cannot fail to recognize is how the under-education of the Turkish society as a whole plays into the selling off of land which is valuable. The World Bank believes that only 27 percent of Turkish adults completed high school; of that, only a very small percentage ever make it to the university. All the rest have only a fifth or eighth grade education.With the strongest economy and military force in the entire region, how is it that Turkey, on one hand, has some of most historical and environmentally beautiful places on earth, yet on the other hand, allows it to be sold to the highest bidder? Maybe some of the answers can be found in low education levels combined with high unemployment which equals people desperate for money to just subsist.
][/QUOTE][/SIZE]

İnteresting article though I don't agree with some of it.

The Turks in my area seem to be coping very well with the invasion and pump up their prices in order to enjoy it even more. That's why we don't get taxis which are more expensive than in the uk or eat out at premium rates for food I can do better in my own kitchen!! Who determines the goıng rate for services such as cleaning - take a tour and you will find dozens of differing rates. Personally I clean my own house not because I begrudge giving a local a bit of cash in hand but cos İ am not rich. Where İ come from folks don't have cleaners - they are more likely to be employed as one This article is naive!!

And the idea of thick ignorant Turks driven to sell off their land - what a load of rubbish and very insulting to the Turks İ know who are very pleased to be incredibly rich now after off-loading land they themselves bought for next to nothing. And sold to Turks not foreigners!!

mavi

I guess a lot comes down to living with or accepting 'change'. Nothing stays the same.

The article points out lots of things, ie the pork in restaurants, 19 years ago when I first came to Turkey, some restaurants and cafes sold bacon...

whilst their might be a high rate of unemployment, it must have been much higher before...

the amount of new restaurants/cafes/bars alone that have opened over the years to accomodate for the growing number of 'foreign' residents or visitors

larger businesses, like the Migros,Tansas, Kipa,Koc Tas etc only has turkish employees... creating mass amount of jobs

emlaks, we all know there is virtually hundreds in each town... the fact that prices have risen so considerably could be down to the greed or opportunist turks who have made lots of money selling to foreigners

the amount of buildings that have been put up all around the coastal resorts has created mass amount of jobs there too..

the fact that so many of the properties are lying unfinished or unsold surely must come down to what the price the builders are asking for them

if we take a quick glance about Britain for example, where are the true brits? scattered amoungst all the other nationalities who come and make the most of the opportunites uk offers

North London, full of turks, they have one main street that is totally turkish/cypriot/greek... jewellers, markets, shops, pide salons etc etc

In central Scotland, Glasgow area, the numbers of turks has risen considerably in the last 10-15 years or so, when a turk marries someone from the uk, it is the right of the british citizen to be granted a spouse visa for one year for their other half..

I am certainly not in agreement to local councillors or the likes being a foreigner... yes we want to keep it turkey/turkish...

whilst we, the foreigners are purchasing property here, we are also giving our money to turkey, we pay for our dental and healthcare, we dont get government hand outs or grants or dole money, we pay our way, and if some of our influences can rub off on the turks (i said some not all..) then it can only result in the likes of a better education etc

I guess we all want to encapsulate what we fell in love with about Turkey and keep it to ourselves, but in the real world, that cant happen, Turkey or anywhere

shirleyanntr

hi Mavi..unemployment has risen steeply under this government from 6% in 2000 to over 11% beginning of this year
heres a little from Turkstats

Turkey’s overall unemployment rate rose to 11.9 percent in the three month term ending in February, representing 2.796 million persons without a job.

There was an increase of 46,000 in the number of unemployed, a rise of 0.2 percent, compared with the same period a year ago.

Turkstat’s workplace survey for February showed that of those in employment 25.1 percent was employed in agriculture, 20.4 percent in industry, 4.7 percent in the construction sector and 49.8 percent in service industries. Employment in agriculture decreased by 4.8 percent while that in services increased by 3.6 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

Of those unemployed, 75.5 percent were men, 61.3 percent had not completed high school, and 34.7 percent had been without a job for more than one year.