Kaş’s local foreigners want to be heard in the ele
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 26, 2009 00:00
Kaş locals usually do anything they can to make the expatriates feel like they are no different than Turks, but that is not the case with only a few days left to the local elections.
Nowadays they are not the most popular group among the dwellers of the Mediterranean coastal town in Antalya because they are not the ones whom the candidates are after (perhaps luckily) or invited to house-meetings for their votes. They are still foreigners, though most of them have invested here and pay taxes here. They are the audience of this "election theater" or " election fanfare," though they do not understand well.
Nobody but the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review asked about their views: What do you think about the election and the campaign? Who should be the ideal mayor for you?
A small group of foreign women replied to us after their pilates class with huge smiles on their faces.
"Kaş is unique and should be kept as it is," said Uta Turgay, a former schoolteacher. "I would surely vote for a mayor who sincerely cares about nature by stopping the distortion of mountains and endemic flora for the sake of more and more buildings."
"I love Kaş but anxious about the future of the environment and the history," she continued. "For example the new granites laid in the town square do not suit it at all."
Gisela Gebhard, the volunteer pilates trainer of the group was cheerful.
"Kaş is a paradise, so individual, so characteristic, so authentic!" she said. "We are mostly glad to be here, but it could be better."
She listed her requests. "We need more restaurants and more information" said Gebhard, a Kaş resident for eight years. "We do not understand what is announced from municipality’s loud speaker. Is it difficult to repeat it in English? Also the mayor should hold meetings with foreigners Ğ to make everybody understand the other’s problems or suggestions."
Annette Jasper is a Dutch grandma, a sailor and a former psychologist. She expects more order.
"Here in Kaş peninsula, they construct very nice luxurious houses but the construction garbage, stones, woods, cements, etc., are dumped nearby. I cannot understand this," she said.
The Kleypass family of Germany lives on a hill with an excellent view.
"The elections are different here. So much fanfare, so many repeats with loud speakers everywhere, there is no place to run away. It is maddening," Horst commented. His wife, Ushi, is anxious about development without control, like what happened in Spain. Her nightmare is that starry "alles inclusive" hotels will come after the new marina’s construction is completed.
"The most annoying thing is [when] somebody starts unlicensed construction by wiping out flora and rocks," Horst said. "At a certain level of construction, the municipality comes and stops it, and it remains for years as it is. I wonder why it is not pulled down to give nature a chance to recover from that ugliness."
Hans and Margerate Selbachs seem to be relaxed about the future: "If the things go worse, we will sell out and move somewhere else."
Another expatriate, who spoke on the condition that her name not be disclosed, express her views that would likely be shared by many here: "Equal treatment of locals and foreigners Ğ and that includes those Turks people who were not born in Kaş."
Nowadays they are not the most popular group among the dwellers of the Mediterranean coastal town in Antalya because they are not the ones whom the candidates are after (perhaps luckily) or invited to house-meetings for their votes. They are still foreigners, though most of them have invested here and pay taxes here. They are the audience of this "election theater" or " election fanfare," though they do not understand well.
Nobody but the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review asked about their views: What do you think about the election and the campaign? Who should be the ideal mayor for you?
A small group of foreign women replied to us after their pilates class with huge smiles on their faces.
"Kaş is unique and should be kept as it is," said Uta Turgay, a former schoolteacher. "I would surely vote for a mayor who sincerely cares about nature by stopping the distortion of mountains and endemic flora for the sake of more and more buildings."
"I love Kaş but anxious about the future of the environment and the history," she continued. "For example the new granites laid in the town square do not suit it at all."
Gisela Gebhard, the volunteer pilates trainer of the group was cheerful.
"Kaş is a paradise, so individual, so characteristic, so authentic!" she said. "We are mostly glad to be here, but it could be better."
She listed her requests. "We need more restaurants and more information" said Gebhard, a Kaş resident for eight years. "We do not understand what is announced from municipality’s loud speaker. Is it difficult to repeat it in English? Also the mayor should hold meetings with foreigners Ğ to make everybody understand the other’s problems or suggestions."
Annette Jasper is a Dutch grandma, a sailor and a former psychologist. She expects more order.
"Here in Kaş peninsula, they construct very nice luxurious houses but the construction garbage, stones, woods, cements, etc., are dumped nearby. I cannot understand this," she said.
The Kleypass family of Germany lives on a hill with an excellent view.
"The elections are different here. So much fanfare, so many repeats with loud speakers everywhere, there is no place to run away. It is maddening," Horst commented. His wife, Ushi, is anxious about development without control, like what happened in Spain. Her nightmare is that starry "alles inclusive" hotels will come after the new marina’s construction is completed.
"The most annoying thing is [when] somebody starts unlicensed construction by wiping out flora and rocks," Horst said. "At a certain level of construction, the municipality comes and stops it, and it remains for years as it is. I wonder why it is not pulled down to give nature a chance to recover from that ugliness."
Hans and Margerate Selbachs seem to be relaxed about the future: "If the things go worse, we will sell out and move somewhere else."
Another expatriate, who spoke on the condition that her name not be disclosed, express her views that would likely be shared by many here: "Equal treatment of locals and foreigners Ğ and that includes those Turks people who were not born in Kaş."