Cement works battle won by protestors

Yeşilüzümlü will remain green says the Court of Muğla Province which has found in favour of the protestors who have been energetically campaigning against the building of a cement factory by Urantaş in the valley.

A full article will be published tomorrow.

Lira Crashes

At last some good news from the global financial crisis.

We mentioned a few weeks ago (6/10/08) that the Turkish currency would probably weaken more as the global financial crisis deepened.

That forecast came true last week the Turkish Lira fell some 6.3% against the Pound in one week. The Lira opened at 2.44 and closed at 2.60.

The Turkish currency took the biggest one day fall since 2003 last Thursday when it fell 4.4% in one day.
 
In August the Pound sunk to around 2.15 hitting cash strapped holiday makers and expats alike. Since then the Lira has weakened by 21%. In other words for every £1,000 changed you now get 450 Lira more!

The Sky’s Alive

The big local event was the 9th International Air Games held in Ölüdeniz which this year attracted around 400 competitors from 40 countries, including one from Iraq. 

The Games has now become the second largest event of its type in the world only eclipsed by a similar gathering in France.  

The Games opened on Wednesday 15th and closed Sunday 22nd.

Unfortunately the success of the Games was marred by two accidents involving competitors in the days before it began. 

In the first two parachutists, one Czech and one Romanian, collided in mid-air 100 metres above the ground.  The Romanian fell to his death whilst the Czech was hospitalized with multiple broken bones. 

Then a Russian flyer lost the air from his parachute whilst practising a stunt.  He became tangled in the lines and, when he opened his emergency parachute, that also became caught up in the lines, and he plunged 500 metres to his death on the lower slopes of Babadağ.

Other accidents have also occurred but details are sketchy.

Fire Threat Still With Us

Whilst the Games got under way there was a forest fire in Faralya which consumed a hectare before being brought under control.

The Regional Director of the Forestry Commission, based in Denizli, gave a press conference at which he announced that the number of fires in 2008 was the lowest for the past seven years, and 50% down on last year. 

In 2007 there had been a total of 89 separate fires which consumed some 368 hectares of forest.  62 of these fires were started by people (accidentally or otherwise) with the cause of the remaining 27 being unknown. 

He called for a total ban on entering forests during July and August – but how that could be administered when so many roads run through the forests we cannot imagine.