BODRUM: TURKISH TOURIST HOTSPOT "FIGHTING THE MAN"

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000726 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - CHANGED PARA NUMBERS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT PASS USTDA FOR DAN STEIN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD ECON PREL TU SUBJECT: BODRUM: TURKISH TOURIST HOTSPOT "FIGHTING THE MAN" ANKARA 00000726 001.2 OF 002 This message is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Located on the southern Aegean and one of Turkey's most famous tourist destinations, Bodrum currently faces many challenges as its plans for infrastructure expansion are stymied by the inefficiency of Turkey's centralized government bureaucracy in Ankara. Of main concern to the Mayor of Bodrum is the city's lack of solid waste and waste water treatment facilities. Bodrum Chamber of Commerce representatives showcased the city's flourishing yacht-building industry, which continues to provide jobs to the local population affected by a recent decrease in visitors. While Bodrum officials believe it is a target of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, AKP leadership will have a difficult time recruiting this traditionally liberal and self-sufficient electorate. End summary. -------------- -------------- Insufficient Infrastructure Stymies Tourism Expansion -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Situated on a peninsula in the southern Aegean Sea and blessed with white-sand beaches and characteristic white-facaded houses, Bodrum is one of Turkey's main tourist destinations and features prominently in most of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism's ad campaigns. An ancient fishing village, Bodrum also boasts many significant historic sites including an ancient castle and the Mausoleum, which is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The city attracts Turkish and international visitors who enjoy sailing, water sports, and its vibrant nightlife. It was recently described by the New York Times as "the next St. Tropez." ¶3. (SBU) Meeting with us during a regional outreach trip, Bodrum Mayor Mazlum Agan described his vision for Bodrum and the challenges he has faced. Elected in 2001, Agan has focused on improving the city's waste disposal and electricity infrastructure to keep up with the summer tourism season (during which the population increases from 50,000 to over 1 million). Currently the city lacks a central municipal solid waste dumping area, so the city suffers from what the mayor characterized as "wild dumping," creating an unsightly and smelly mess during the height of the summer tourist season. In addition, the municipality dumps liquid waste directly into the Aegean because it does not have an adequate waste water treatment facility. The city issued its own tenders and was in final negotiations with a Finnish company to begin construction of a waste water facility when, according to Agan, the centralized bureaucracy in Ankara cancelled the tender, having decided that the technology was not worth the cost and that Turkey should develop its own. ¶4. (SBU) Bodrum's tourism director, Nebahat Inag, agreed with the Mayor's assessment of the infrastructure problems and argued that the government needed to do more to market Bodrum as a tourist attraction. Bodrum is currently the third largest tourist destination in Turkey after Antalya and Istanbul, but it has experienced a 17% decline in visitors in the last few years. Inag attributed this decline to the bird flu outbreak in Turkey, recent high-profile murders such as that of a Trabzon priest and Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, and the Turkish reaction to the Danish editorial cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed. The city plans to finish construction and open a cruise ship pier during the first half of 2007. Future plans also include extending Bodrum's tourist season beyond its current five to six months by creating conference facilities and attracting international conferences to the area. Bodrum would also like to see more direct international flights, but there are no concrete plans at this point. Turks comprise the majority of tourists to Bodrum followed by the British, Germans, Dutch, Russians and Belgians. -------------- -------------- Business Community: Locals Know What's Best for Bodrum -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Officials from Bodrum's Chamber of Commerce told us that they feel that the central government in Ankara has neglected the area and interfered with the local government's efforts to improve the infrastructure of the city, a problem that has only worsened since the AKP government came to power in 2002. Bodrum is unique to Turkey, with a per capita income of $20,000 per person, with most of the locals working in the tourism industry. They argued that they worry because the Ministry of Treasury owns much of the vacant land in the ANKARA 00000726 002.2 OF 002 area, and it has sole authority to sell or develop the land, preventing the local government from having a say in how the land is developed in the future. They also worry that the AKP is trying to "divide and conquer" Bodrum through gerrymandering local districts. They added, however, that the AKP has had an extremely difficult time finding people to register as it tries to attract new voters. "Bodrum had to build Bodrum" because of a lack of central government investment, they argued, and therefore it should step back and continue to let the locals manage their city. ¶6. (SBU) Meanwhile, yacht building is Bodrum's only industry, and its builders create yachts for the world's rich and powerful. Customers include the Malaysian President, Kuwaiti restaurateurs, and Russian businessmen. The sector is booming as the region's reputation for quality becomes known throughout the world. Representatives of the three companies we met with said that they are taking backorders at this point and usually complete only three yachts a year. -------------- Bodrum a Hard Sell for AKP -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Comment: Even with its challenges, business is flourishing in Bodrum, as it is in many of Turkey's diverse regions as Turkey's economic upturn enters its fifth year. Local "control" of development is evident -- the city is clean, and the buildings are famous for their uniform white-facaded architecture. The yacht-building facilities were impressive and continue to employ a larger majority of the local population. It is evident in talking to the city's political and business leaders that they view Turkey's centralized government bureaucracy as an annoyance rather than a partner, and they are very concerned about the growing influence of the AK Party in the region. Indeed, the AKP will have a difficult time recruiting supporters from this traditionally liberal and self-reliant electorate. End comment. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ MCELDOWNEY