Two Turkish Aegean islands put up for sale

ISTANBUL – Demirören News Agency

Two islets off Turkey’s Aegean coast have been put up for sale with online ads by their owners.

Karaca Island, one kilometer offshore of Karacasöğüt Marina in the southeastern Marmaris resort town, has a price tag of 210 million Turkish Liras ($36.6 million), according to an online ad posted by Bosforce real estate agency based in Istanbul.

The island lying within the boundaries of Muğla province was bought by a Turkish businessperson residing in the United States in 1980 with a purpose of building a seven-star hotel, Bosforce Managing Partner Uğur Özcan said.

However, the area was declared a grade-1 natural site in 1983, a decision prohibiting big construction works on the islet.

“Although the owner paid the taxes for many years, the intended investment couldn’t be made,” said Özcan.

“There are three detached houses on it but they are derelict buildings. The construction registry documents have been drafted as part of the recent zoning amnesty, so, they can be used after restoration,” he added.

The prospective owner of Karaca Island will be allowed to build a small-scale marina and a touristic facility for daytrips, according to Özcan, who also said that a tax exemption of five years comes with the islet.

The 381,000-square island includes a forestland of 65,000 square meters and four coves, the ad dated Sept. 22 showed.

Karaca Island lies on the route of popular blue voyages on boats sailing from resort towns of Marmaris, Akyaka and Bodrum.

Island of flowers

An islet of the archipelago off Turkey’s northwestern Balıkesir province, Çiçek Island — named after flowers on it — is on sale for 115,000 liras ($20 million).

The 267,000-square-meter island lies some 230 meters off the mainland and it is only 12 meters away from the popular resort town of Ayvalık. The highway connecting the Aegean province of İzmir with Gallipoli Strait is in the visibility range from the island, according to the online ad.

Çiçek Island is famous for its narcissus plant, a special variety of daffodils with white and yellow colors and fragrance.

It includes three houses, four fresh water wells, some 2,000 olive trees, about 3,000 pine and fruit trees.

The island is owned by Katrinli, Katerin and Hatırlı families. Hüseyin Afacan and his wife, Ayşe Afacan, both in their 70s, have been living a remote life on the island as caretakers. Known as the “Turkish Robinsons” in Ayvalık, the Afacan couple lives in a stone building left from a time when the island was once inhabited by local Greeks decades ago.