Which Turkey Do You Prefer?

[Scunner]

There are many changes in Turkey - some for the better and some that help a little - but are you happier with Turkey today, or the one you first stumbled upon?

[littlereddevil]

For me the one I stumbled on in the 1980's

[Anne]

Most definitely the old days

[mercury]

We bought in 2005 as a lot did.. Went to live there in 2007.. No supermarkets in our area. Just the local shop and a bakers.. Goats roaming and no roads much of any description.Little old ladies (or maybe not) taking goats and cows for a walk on a rope. There were lots of bean fields and views as far as the eye could see. We loved looking at the hills from our pool.   It ballooned in less than 5 years..  This was fethiye.. We looked to but in calis but we absolutley fell in love with fethiye.. It was like Huddersfield 50 years ago. Individuasl little shops. We used to sit at Olu Deniz.The lokanta at The Otogar watching the old cars and bikes. Absolutely choatic.. (not much has changed now). We first looked at Calis but didn't fancy it as a place to buy although we loved it to visit and still holiday there. We first looked at Deliktas when there were 2 apartment blocks and 2 villas..no roads. No street lights and too far for us to The Dolmus.. We went back 2 years later and couldn't find the original apartment.  Infact never did... Hundreds there now and as far up as you can go. Cenk and Olga took us to our place which was little more than a mud pile but we fell in love with it,
We used to love Icmeler. quiet. blissful but sadly that has changed now too.. The "louder" element and loud bars have crept along from Marmaris...Their beach is wonderful though.
What we have to remember is that we bought because we loved it then for whatever the reason but people have their own reasons for buying and living there now. I think more are opting for renting which a lot probably wish they had now.
Having said that. We go back to Huddersfield area to visit family and we can hardly recognise the place

[pops]

I think a lot depends on whether you Holiday there, or Live there.
We still love to Holiday in Turkey and things have improved greatly as a holiday destination since our first visit. However, 10 years ago I thought I could live there......Now.......No thank you.
Having said that, the city in which I live is changing and changing fast. Described on the internet today as a place that will be "unrecognisable" by 2020. The common people have to accept change and embrace it. I admit, not all changes are for the better but the vast majority are out of our control.

[Scunner]

 we absolutley fell in love with fethiye.. It was like Huddersfield 50 years ago

Not a comparison that has been made too often I would imagine

[Jacqui Harvey]

I think wherever we go on holiday, we always prefer it the way it was when we first visited.
The same with where we live.  I often speak to friends about local towns and reminisce the way they used to be.
Our nearest place is Cruden Bay and there used to be a lovely little Bakery there.  The old guy that had it, baked lovely bread and cakes at the back of the shop.  However, the authorities told him he had to modernise the place and it was going to cost £10,000 so he just sold up.  It is now a house.
Same in Turkey we always reminisce about how Calis was and the restaurants we really miss such as La Terace.
It would seem that nothing changes for the better.

[kevin3]

We bought in 2005 but have just used it for holidays and never let it. Despite all our research we
probably still bought looking through rose tinted glasses but luckily didn't get stung. The air fares
were silly money,the prices of meals and goods in the shops were far cheaper and more of the
local people seemed friendlier.Nowadays it seems to me that  more and more of the business
people and staff have come in from other areas, commerce has become more important than
friendships, supermarkets have driven out smaller shops,much as in the UK and it seems to have
lost that special feel. Air fares are through the roof and a lot of the things   you spend money on
are the same price or dearer than the UK. Still lots of friends and lovely people around but it's
not the same, and perhaps we're not.   Still keep going back though.!!             

[Scunner]

It would seem that nothing changes for the better.

You have obviously forgotten about your daughter's seat of learning (and my birth town) Luton. When I was growing up it was officially classified as a sh*thole; these days it has improved hugely, and is now shyte.

[Colwyn]

I think we've seen this thread before, a few years back. Then it showed that if you first went in the 1980s you thought the 1980s were best, if you went in the 1990s then the 1990s were best, you went 2000-2005 then the early part of the decade was best, and so on. Seems this thread is going the same way. For Turkish people I guess that the first ten years of AKP government was a kind of "golden era"; low inflation, stable currency, economic growth, increase in personal wealth, and so on. Unfortunately, it was all built on easy credit (which has now hit the buffers in a faltering economy) and the success that this gave AKP secured their position that gave confidence to sponsored an increasingly authoritarian government to push religiously driven policies, wrapped in corruption, and to adopt draconian policies against those who disagreed. Whether this makes the slightest difference to most holidaymakers and expats I very much doubt.