Our weekly round up of the local news continues.

Jaws Caught

A man from Fethiye fishing off Göcek this week caught two large sharks on two consecutive days.

His first catch weighed in at 100kg and was 1.5m in length.

He easily bettered that with his second fish which weighed 300kg and measured 2m.

The fisherman said he had never caught a shark before in his life, so to land two in two days was absolutely amazing.

Stabbing of Fethiye Mayor – Court Case

Halit Turşucu, the man who knifed the Mayor of Fethiye and his assistant last year, appeared in court in Fethiye this week having been held in custody in Muğla since the incident.

During his time on remand he had been examined by psychiatrists, and declared fit to plead.

The prosecution are asking for a sentence of 13 – 20 years in jail for each of two counts of attempted murder, but the defendant claims he did not intend to murder either of the two men he stabbed.

The case continues amid tight security at the court building.

12 Month Tourism Closer

And the holy grail of ’12 month tourism’ hit the headlines again this week when it was announced that more resort sites (by that they mean large hotels and holiday villages as opposed to small hotels and pensions) stayed open during the 2009 – 10 winter than the year before.

A survey by the national Hoteliers’ Federation revealed that in the winter of 2008 – 09, along the whole coastline from Bodrum to Alanya, a total of 122 sites stayed open through the winter.

This past winter that had risen to 141.

This has to be a move in the right direction if business is to thrive in the area.

Argument Ends in Suspicious Death

A taxi driver and his wife from Patlangıç spent a day visiting friends in Seki this week.

On the way home an argument broke out in the car over the volume of music being played, and the fact that the man, who was driving had been drinking.

The woman, Medine Çil (38), was sitting in the back seat of the car and asked her husband, Mehmet Çil (46), to stop and let her out, but he refused.

He then said he suddenly realised she was no longer in the back seat, so he turned around but couldn’t find her.

He drove back to Seki and reported what had happened to the Jandarma who, after checking 5km of the roadside irrigation canal, found the woman’s body in the water.

They are now investigating the incident.

Bumper Year for Tourism?

Tourism officials from Fethiye attended three separate tourism fairs abroad during March in Berlin, Miami and Moscow.

As a result they are predicting a rise in visitors of 13 – 15% in the coming season.

Let’s hope the prediction becomes reality.