VZCZCXRO0115
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #0726/01 0891040
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301040Z MAR 07 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1517
INFO RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 2427
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1805
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

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