New tender opens for Turkey’s remote Aegean idyll Göcek bays, despite court order

Erdinç Çelikkan – ANKARA

DHA photo

Five months after a local court ordered a stay of execution regarding tenders to rent forested bays on one of Turkey’s most beautiful coasts for 29 years, a new tender has been opened to rent out the same areas for 10 years. 

The Dalaman Forest Sub-District Directorate has opened tenders to rent out four bays in the Aegean town of Göcek - the Bedri Rahmi (Taşyaka), the Akbük, the Göbün and the Küçük Sarsala (little Sarsala) - for 10 years, despite a local court in the Muğla province ruling in early April for a stay of execution for the tender on renting the same bays for 29 years.

The new tender will be held on Sept. 16-17, and will cover the operating rights of the recreation areas of the Bedri Rahmi (Taşyaka) bay containing 1.93 hectares of forest, the Küçük Sarsala bay containing 1.18 hectares of forest, the Göbün bay containing 1.14 hectares of forest, and the Akbük bay containing 1.04 hectares of forest.

The estimated values of these areas have been determined and the security deposits that need to be paid to enter the tender have also been defined. 

Sergender Sezer, the representative of the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats (TEMA) for Muğla, said the tenders were “unlawful.”

 “They may have changed the contract [about the bays]. But I do not understand their insistence about the bays anyway. They have already closed all the bays in Muğla to citizens, and the prices to rent sunbeds start from 10 Turkish Liras per day,” Sezer said. 

“We will keep fighting, we will open lawsuits … We will sue the tender process,” Sezer added. 

Tenders organized by the Forestry and Waterworks Ministry to rent the Bedri Rahmi and Akbük bays for 29 years were held on March 26 at the Dalaman Forest Sub-District Directorate, while tenders for the two other bays were held on March 27.

The Akbük bay was rented for 29 years for approximately 1.8 million liras per year, while the Taşyaka bay was rented to café owner Hüseyin Gülen in Dalaman for the same price. 

The rent prices were even higher for the other two bays. The Küçük Sarsala bay was rented for about 3.4 million liras per year for 29 years while the Göbün bay was rented for about 3.8 million liras. 

A local court in Turkey’s Aegean region later adopted ruled for a stay of execution regarding all tenders to rent the forested bays.