Aye, nearly twenty years now in Fethiye and not that much less in the 'Bul for me - stick on another ten years at least in the 'Bul for the missus.
I've seen a lot of changes in Turkey over the years, some I'm happy with, some I'm less happy with - I can't say I disagree with any because at the end of the day we've just been visitors. That said, the current political climate has had a big influence on our decision to sell this property.
Politically, wow... we've really seen changes. I actually started working in Turkey in 2004, right at the start of the "rectification" period when inflation went down into single digits from the previous year when it was in the twenties (see my post in other thread for guy who was responsible for doing this) and a period of stability, both politically and economically, looked to be on the cards.
Didn't take those akp phukers long to make an arse of it, did it? Initially we had the wee fella and his mucker being BFF's - they were like a political roller coaster with highs and lows but ultimately the wee fella ended up in the high castle. Once he got there, the old boy became toxic and we all know the fall out from that break up!
Now we have the purges that, if anyone on here remembers the 1980 coup, are set to make that look like a storm in a teacup. My OH was here in '93 and '97, neither were considered bloody coups but more than a few lost their lives. These current purges have hit home to the extent that personally I know a lot of folks who have been directly affected and from a professional perspective... I'm not sure how much I can actually say, other than it has now started to directly affect me, a yabanci without a provable affiliation to the HDP
The recent arrests have shown that the government can have you arrested for "assisting the cause of terrorist organisations without being a member". Woah... getting a bit close to home, considering the law firm I now work with! We do a lot of pro-bono work for Kurds and Kurdish organisations, something I feel totally comfortable with. So far we've lost four colleagues. Three arrested and their whereabouts unknown and one dismissed from his position as a professor at a university. I just hope they don't find out about all the sneaky sh1t I've been up to over the years to promote free speech in Turkey, they'll throw away the key
On a more local basis we've seen Fethiye prosper. Hmmm... maybe thats not the right term to use - ok, we've seen a select few in Fethiye make an awful lot of money over the years and to my shame, I've helped some of them spend it. Mostly on raki and denizli balik, certainly not on the wine available! Nah, but seriously Fethiye as a town has prospered and we should be thankful to the conservative belediye that did not allow it to become another Akbuk or Altinkum.
They kept the fun stuff up the hill (sorry Kev et al) and the boring stuff over in the swamp (sorry CBFers)
I have a confession to make, to some that is - in all these years I've been to Calis four times. Twice to see Keith, once to see Cenk and the fourth time our girls wanted to go to "the beach". On that latter occasion they both said "yeugh, its stoney, full of fag ends and dog sh1t, can we not got to Olu Deniz dad?". Aksazlar didn't exist at that time so I simply said "yes".
I will miss the times we've enjoyed in Fethiye, but as a family I think we've moved on. Neither of our girls are that bothered about going back (Istanbul is a whole different story though) and we're a bit "meh". Latterly, four or five days has been my limit - time enough to catch up with who's dead, who's gone home and who's skint. When there for a week, by day five I either want to head back up to the 'Bul or back to the UK. It simply doesn't do it for me any more. When I think back to when I used to spend weeks at a time in Fethiye, with the odd scoot up to either Ankara or Istanbul, the Fethiye of then is very different to what is there now.
Anyway, that's all behind us now (to a certain extent) - we're in process of selling up in the UK also and are heading off to the south west corner of Spain. Lovely part of the country with very few expats from the UK (although a few from Istanbul that we've known for years) and a pleasant climate. We've spent a fair bit of time there over the past two years, putting into practise the advice we've spouted often enough in respect of Turkey. Rent first... yada yada yada. I can do Malaga to Istanbul with THY for €189rtn and, as long as I don't get arrested in the immediate future, that's me sorted
So... is that ignorant, rude, intolerant, grumpy so and so heading off or is he hanging around? Well, sorry to disappoint a few of you but as I said previously you don't get rid of me that easily. To the IYDLHSU club, and its members, GIRUY
JuanF