We continue our round up of the local news from Fethiye, Muğla and surrounding area.

Russian Solo Paraglider Condition Serious After Chute Collapse

A 40-year-old Russian woman launched herself from Babadağ for a solo paraglide early in the week.

Within moments of take off her parachute turned inside out and she fell to the rocks below.

First aid staff at the launch site carried her back up on a stretcher and a military helicopter whisked her away to the State hospital where her condition was pronounced as ‘serious’.

French Holiday Maker Commits Suicide in Ölüdeniz

In a hotel Ölüdeniz, also early in the week, a 49-year-old Frenchman, Jean Yves Castagne, together with his family, was seemingly enjoying his holiday.

That was until he disappeared just before midnight.

He had committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in the hotel grounds.

His wife later told Jandarma and the local press that he had been very depressed after losing his job as part of the on-going global economic crisis.

He had been receiving psychiatric help and the holiday was meant to be part of his therapy.

His body was later flown home to France for burial.

Dam Protest Continues

The villagers of Kargı near Fethiye continued the protests into proposals to utilise the Kargı River for power generation this week, when a group of villagers with placards picketed the downtown offices of the Forestry Commission.

They see the Commission as complicit in the proposal to use the river for hydroelectric power generation.

They all had their say with the local press and eventually left peacefully – but stating clearly that the protests will continue.

However, later in the week it was announced that regional officials in Muğla had ordered all preparatory work on the project (which includes felling trees, an action that has particularly enraged local villagers) was being stopped.

We shall see whether or not it restarts in due course.

Motorist Dies on drive to Üzümlü

A 53-year-old Turkish man, Ahmet Sabancı, set out from Fethiye to drive to Üzümlü one evening and never arrived, nor did he return home.

His family alerted police and Jandarma, and two days later he was found dead in his car which had left the road near to Üzümlü and fallen 50m onto rocks below.

The Eagle Has Landed

And good news for another member of the local fauna when a huge eagle with an injured wing was found in the forest near to Kayadibi, a village near Saklıkent gorge.

The bird was found by Forestry Commission workers who transported it to the local offices of the Commission in Fethiye.

A vet treated it, kept it for two days to recover, and then it was released into the wild near to where it had been found.