Bride and groom cuffed by police, interest rates down, vehicle visa chaos and more in this weeks round up of the local news stories.

Laughing Policemen

It would seem Fethiye police do have a sense of humour. 

This week a couple of uniformed policemen joined the ‘pinning’ queue at the wedding of Murat and Seda in a downtown venue.

When their turn came they handcuffed the bride to the groom and then left. 

The bride and groom remained cuffed together for half an hour or so, and were just starting to wonder how they’d manage the wedding night, when the police returned to release them. 

Turned out it was all a joke set up by friends of the groom.

Fethiye Still the Turkish Hot Spot

The national press continue to be fascinated by the good weather here in Fethiye. 

One headline this week said “In the east minus 22 degrees in Fethiye +22 degrees” .

We know we’re lucky.

Antique Thieves

Following a tip off, two men were charged with selling antiquities this week having been caught with a carved stone panel that weighed 25 – 30kg.

It is an offence to steal smuggle antiques in Turkey so be careful if you are offered such items for sale!

Interest Rates Lowered

The Turkish Central Bank followed the international trend to lower interest rates this week when they lowered rates by 1.25% to 15%.

Many banks will be offering higher rates for Turkish Lira deposits though as money supply continues to tighten.

This is a far cry from the rates now offered in the USA (0.25%), Japan zero and the UK 2% and is one of the reasons why the Turkish Lira continues its super strength

New Currency from 1st January

The Turkish Central Bank will issue new bank notes and coins from 1st January.

This is all part of a change in the name of the currency from the Yeni Turk Lirasi (YTL) to Turk Lirasi (TL).

We’ll run an article explaining all the changes to the notes and coins later this week.

Vehicle Visa Chaos

And finally, following an announcement that visa testing for vehicles is to be privatised in the new year, drivers panicked and headed en masse for the Government Testing Station on the Üzümlü road, Fethiye.

The theory was that what is now quite a lax test will become much stiffer after privatisation.

One of the holders of a licence to start testing from 1st January 2009 said drivers had nothing to fear from the new testing regime.

That didn’t stop the queue from reaching 3km in length at its peak.

That’s all the news snippets for 2008 but we’ll be back in the new year with our selection of local news.