Merhaba Dostum
Welcome to my new environmental blog on saving Kaş Kalkan; saving, that is to say, its amazing coastline and its mountain villages from the relentless slaughter of the bulldozers. These machines are ripping up olive groves and vines to put up yet more illegally built, (usually) concrete “luxury villas”. The villas are being built for rent to city people from all over Turkey looking for A 21st Century Post Pandemic Socially Distanced Holiday (catchy eh?).
I learned from a reliable source that there are more than 8,000 such unlicensed structures in the Kaş area now, although there are (funnily enough!) no official figures.
Some of you know that I write another blog ‘An Englishman Abroad (here)’. This is a gently satirical take on expatriate life in Kalkan, which I hope expresses my love of life here, my appreciation of the country’s history and culture and affection for Turkish people and their ways. An affection that is of course mixed occasionally with the bafflement or indeed sheer, jaw dropping WTF amazement which all foreigners at times feel about their host communities.
But of late a darkness has crept in to my writing. I feel a little like Withnail as he stands in the rain, sunk in despair at the end of the classic film. He quotes from Hamlet
“I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame the earth seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy the air, look you, this mighty o’rehanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire; why, it appeareth nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man..”
So I started writing more contentious pieces about what is happening here. I started thinking about the looming environmental disaster as the water dries up.
“Lack of water is the biggest problem facing the Mediterannean and Aegean tourist area”
– Professor Dr Mehmet Somuncu, Ankara University.
.. and the land management issues, and the loss of habitat as agriculture land disappears or gets polluted by the waste from an unregulated welter of insensitive tourism.
So I have opened this new blog to draw attention to what we have here in this magnificent jewel, the District of Kaş, and what we have to lose and what we can do about it.
I said on Facebook that I felt like a skinny adolescent stepping into the ring with a 21 stone bruiser. Or as somebody suggested‘The Mouse That Roared’. LoL!
I like that. I will adopt it. I am a Reluctant Environmentalist, the Mouse that Roared.
In my sights are the Water and Power companies that have given new accounts to illegally built villas without the checks and documentation that their websites claim are required. What have they got to say?
I hope that I can get an audience with the Mayor, Mutlu ULUTAŞ Bey who is in charge of the planning function and the District Governor Şaban YAZICI Bey, who controls the Jandarma and is in charge of law and order. Both charming men whom I have met and warmed too. But, of course, they know what is happening. I want to ask what plans they have to put a stop to the illegal destruction of our environment.
It is not a new problem. The previous mayor said that he would stop the relentless exploitation but did not. It is not just in this region that there is a problem either. Illegal building goes on in many other places in Turkey. But it is very serious here and the stakes are high. The Kaş District contains so many sites of historical, scientific and natural importance. We cannot stand by and see a stampede for short term profit destroy the wonders around us.
I am not alone. I talk to a small circle of Turkish people who want these issues raised but who cannot show themselves as they do not have the protection of the expatriate bubble. Together we are developing a strategy and tactics to try and force the agenda.
Perhaps I will be knocking at an open door? Perhaps those in power will welcome my visit and explain how the matter will be effectively and quickly dealt with?
But my previous meetings and complaints have not been encouraging.
You can help me by registering on this site. Enter your email and you will get a confirmation mail sent to your inbox which you must respond to.
You can help by sending your best pictures to me of what you love about life here. I will use some on my page headed ‘The Kaş Area’ which you will find on the menu at the top. I have put a slide show there. It needs work.
You can help by commenting and making your voice heard.
Let’s act now to stop unlicensed destrcution and build a vision for a sustainable future, valuing this amazing area and lifestyle.
Coming soon: What is an Imar Barışı (Planning Amnesty) and why is the prospect of another one already causing huge harm?
– The Mouse That Roared