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

Remember the Dead

Last week was Kurban Bayram but isn't just about sacrificing animals.

It is the most important holiday in the Islamic religious calendar and, as such, is the time when people visit the graves of their relatives.

So if you noticed lots of flowers in spick and span graveyards, you now know why.

Hit and Run Kills Disabled Man

On the first day of the Bayram a 49-year-old disabled man in a wheelchair left his home in Esenköy to attend the early morning prayers at the local mosque.

As he wheeled himself along the side of the road an oncoming minibus hit and killed him. The vehicle sped away and is now being sought by jandarma.

The Things We Do For Love

Meanwhile the story of 35-year-old Serkan Adım's relationship with a Moldovan woman hit the local headlines.

In 1997 Serkan met Irina in Izmir and they fell in love.

Their son, Burak, was born in 1998 and then Serkan got his call to do military service.

He took Irina and the baby to meet his family, thinking they could stay with the family while he joined the army.

The family totally rejected the 'foreign bride' so Serkan felt he had no choice but to steal a 'kimlik' (Turkish ID card) from a friend who had already completed his military service.

He added his own photograph to the card and the family moved to Alanya.

They stayed there until last year, two more children were born but none of the kids' births were registered, and they were thus unable to go to school.

Last year the family moved to Fethiye and in December Serkan, still using his fake kimlik, applied for a credit card at the bank.

The bank realised his kimlik was false, he was arrested, Irina was deported as she had long overstayed her visa, and the kids were placed in care of the local orphanage.

Serkan served 3.5 months in jail and emerged to find his family in shreds.

Now he is begging for Irina's 7,200TL fine to be overlooked, so that she can come back to Turkey to be with him and her children.

We'll try and keep you updated on this one.

Council Agrees to Name Street after Longest Serving Muhtar

We have written before about the Muhtar of Kesikkapı Mahallesi, 94-year-old Hasan Saröz, who is the longest serving muhtar in the country, having been first elected on 7 June 1946 and re-elected continuously thereafter.

This week Hasan Bey attended a meeting of Fethiye Council at which it was unanimously agreed that, when he dies, a street will be named after him.

Later he told local press that he wants to die as muhtar and, given a choice, he would like the street he lives in, No. 72 Sokak, to be renamed in his honour.

A Day to Remember

The attraction of the palindromic 11.11.11 date was not lost on couples wanting to marry in Fethiye.

Both the Registrar and the Council's Marriage Clerk (who can also legally marry people) were kept busy on the 11th.

In total they married over 70 couples working until 23.00 to get through the list.