In this weeks round of the local news a killer is taken to court, the Belediye demolished 3 homes, burglars strike in different locations, the first foreign wedding of 2009, water melons hit the market stalls and......the weather again!

Killer in Custody

Some readers will recall the murder of Enver Karadağ, whose body was found, shot, on the beach round the peninsula from Letoonia last year.

Enver was the marketing manager for local glossy magazine Fethiye Life.

Well his killer was caught, having driven off in Emre’s car as far as Muğla, he then continued with other transport to Izmir and, using a combination of security camera tapes and a photofit identity, police arrested him in Izmir.

Last week he finally came to court in Fethiye for the first time.

The case was adjourned and the killer remains in custody.

Illegal Buildings Demolished

The Belediye demolished three illegally built houses in ơtalarık this week making three families homeless.

They did put all the furnishings outside before bulldozing the properties. 

Thieves Take the Lot

Foreign residents here sometimes feel they are the main targets for burglars.

Well thieves hit a Turkish household with a vengeance this week.

While the owners were sleeping in their house in Babataş, burglars entered and stole credit cards, a laptop, 2 mobile phones and expensive items of clothing.

Then they found the owner’s car keys so loaded everything into his high-end twin cab 4 x 4 truck and drove away.

Police found the car undamaged within a short time of being informed of the theft – but there is no sign yet of any of the other items.

First Foreign Wedding of 2009

And now for this week’s ‘Aaaaaah’ moment.

The first foreign wedding of 2009 took place in Fethiye this week.

In 2008 almost 200 foreigners married here and 2009’s first couple were John Severn, and Iris Ridgeley.

They’ve lived together for the past ten years and, having married here, are now planning to settle in Fethiye.

Altogether now ‘Aaaaaaaah’.

Cooking Oil Theft

The local branch of TEMA which is an environmental organisation with offices near the day trip boats on the kordon, were also burgled this week and a 250-litre container of cooking oil awaiting collection for recycling was stolen.

The oil goes to be made into soap and other products and, TEMA’s Director said, could be dangerous if people try to use it for cooking.

In 2008 TEMA which works with the Belediye, sent a total of 60 tons of old cooking oil to be recycled.

Who'll Buy my Juicy Melons!

Finally the first water melons of 2009, imported from Iran, were on sale in Tuesday’s fruit and vegetable market.

Only problem was the price.

To buy a whole water melon would have cost around 20TL so canny stall holders were selling them in quarters for 5TL and doing a roaring trade.

We’ll wait until local-grown melons are available at a sensible price.

The Weather....Again!

Thursday and Friday saw more rain falling on an already saturated Fethiye area.

Thunder storms brought with them squalls, very heavy rain, hail and power cuts.

At 23:10 on Thursday night, during one of the biggest storms, the power was cut and the sky lit up in a big orange glow accompanied by a loud buzzing sound. It appears lightening may have caused an explosion of one the electricity distribution depots transformers.  

After another storm on Friday morning school kids in Fethiye were seen making snow balls out of the hail that had collected on the streets.

According to the local weather station some 46kg of rain fell on Thursday alone.

We don't know how 46kg converts to inches as we are used to measuring rain but we know that it is a large amount.

This winter will probably go down as one of the wettest we think.