Our pick of the news from Fethiye and around Turkey over the last week.

News

Fethiye District Crown Green Bowling attains Association status

The Fethiye Bowling Association (FBA), formerly known as Fethiye District Crown Green Bowling, has become the first English sporting club to attain Association status in both Fethiye and Turkey.

This achievement was marked in a ceremony on Wednesday attended by Fethiye Governor, Muzzafer Şahiner and Fethiye Mayor, Behçet Saatcı. After opening speeches there was a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the beginning of the new club.

The FBA is made up of approximately 55 members, mostly retirees living in and around the Fethiye area. There is a variety of bowling skill amongst the members, from former County players to absolute beginners. 75% of members had never played the game before joining the club.

It is overseen by an elected Management Team who organise leagues, competitions, social events, membership, maintenance of the green and less formal aspects.

From time to time, the public is invited to come along and “have a go”. There is an open day on Wednesday, October 31^st from 11:00 to 2:00, so if you’re interested, go along and see for yourself.

Directions to the green are as follows: From the Dolphin roundabout take the main road towards Çiftlik/Dalaman. Just before the end of the dual carriageway you come to a set of traffic lights. Turn right at the lights. The bowling green is approximately 200 yards on the right behind the Oky Garden restaurant.

Fire at Çalış Bird Sanctuary

Over two acres of Çalış Bird Sanctuary was destroyed when fire broke out in the reed beds near Çalış Beach on Tuesday.

Çalış Tourism and Promotion Association (ÇALIŞ-DER) President Mete Ay, told reporters, there were a large number of bird nests in the area of ​​fire. Citizens should be very careful in these areas as negligent behaviour causes harm to the environment and wildlife.

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire.

Sources: Fethiye TV/SonDakika

Turkey visa application to change for Britons next week

TURKEY will change its visa application rules from Monday 29 October meaning British holidaymakers will have to apply for an e-visa before they travel rather than buying at the airport.

Turkey is changing the way visas are purchased on Monday 29 October. Until this date travellers could buy an e-visa at Turkish airports or in designated Wi-Fi areas.

From Monday, tourists and business travellers will have to apply for an e-visa before they travel.

Kiosks and designated areas to buy the travel document will no longer be available on arrival in Turkey.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has updated its travel advice for Turkey accordingly.

The FCO warns against being scammed when it comes to purchasing visas on unauthorised websites.

“Some unauthorised websites may charge for information about e-Visas, and for submitting applications,” said the FCO.

“These websites are not endorsed by or associated with the Turkish government.”

Read the Fethiye Times article – Watch out, watch out – there are E-visa scams about! – Updated

Sources: GOV.UK/express.co.uk

Working Byzantine-era fountain, 1,000-year-old skeleton found in Haydarpaşa restoration

Archaeological excavations carried out as part of the restoration works in Istanbul’s landmark Haydarpaşa Train Station continues to recover precious historical artifacts that potentially shed light on the city’s history.

A nearly-intact skeleton wearing a scented necklace, believed to be some 1,000 years old, was found Thursday, the latest discovery at the site.

The excavation has recovered dozens of remains of graves, in addition to some 2,000 gold and silver coins and ornaments. Some coins date back to 6th century A.D. and bear the sign of Justinian I, while some others of Constantine III from the 7th century.

Another surprising discovery was a Byzantine-era fountain recovered in working condition, the only one of its kind in Istanbul. The water flowing from the fountain is fed by water channels also recovered during the excavation. Archaeologists said that the water is of drinking quality, attesting to the utmost care given in the original architectural with enabled the fountain and its channels to endure centuries and heavy layers of construction in surrounding areas.

Haydarpaşa, which had long served as the terminus for trains coming to Istanbul from Anatolia, was closed in 2013 as part of the Marmaray project, which will renovate the old suburban rail system and stations and add an additional track for high speed trains to reach the iconic station, along with a rail tunnel crossing the Bosporus that was opened for service in 2013. The station is expected to return to service by 2019 when the station’s renovation and other features of the Marmaray project are completed.

Source: Daily Sabah

First Snow of the winter

The road was closed on the Alanya to Ankara highway at Akseki  was closed on Thursday due to heavy snowfall.

Sport

Thank you to Brian Lloyd for the Fethiyespor updates.

Fethiyespor

Fethiyespor drew their away match against Sivas Belediye Spor on Saturday. The final score was 1-1.

Fethiyespor move back up to 17th position on of the league table.

The next league matches are:

Sunday 4th November at home against Zonguldak Kömürspor. Kick off is at 13.30.

Sunday 11th November away against Kirklarelispor. Kick off is 13.30.

For more information about Fethiyespor please visit Fethiyespor Yabancilar on Facebook.

Turkish Lira (TL) exchange rates

The British Pound bought 7.17 TL by the close of business on Friday. The week before it was selling for 7.38 TL.

The US Dollar bought 5.59 TL by the close of business on Friday. The week before it was selling for 5.64 TL.

The Euro bought 6.38 TL by the close of business on Friday. The week before it was selling for 6.51 TL.

ISource: FxexchangeRate.com

Weather Forecast

We may have had the first snow but here in Fethiye we are still having warm sunny days.

Here’s your weather forecast for the week ahead.