I had some brit friends who bought a home there-- early retirement fantasy-- and after a year moved away from Fethiye to another Turkish town because they were so dismayed that the local expat community didn't seem to want to assimilate at all. is that actually the case?

my inlaws live at Calis and are practically the only turks in their site...

Yes, it's true of a lot of them. Many don't bother to learn much Turkish other than what they need to eat and drink unfortunately. These are the people who often complain that they don't know what is going on locally because everything is in Turkish

When we are in Fethiye we are the only foreigners in our apartments, the rest being occupied mostly by locals. We prefer it that way. The majority of our friends locally are Turkish, although not all originally from Fethiye.

I think Fethiye has been saved from a lot of the problems associated with areas like Calis and Hisaronu simply because of the lack of room to build new properties. The only area is out towards Olu Deniz which keeps it well away from the town itself. When it was suggested that the boatyard could be relocated to free up the land for development, the council said no (at least they did the last time!).

At the end of the day, those who move there and don't assimilate with the local community are the ones who lose out. If they start becoming the majority though, then maybe we will look to move elsewhere...

JohnF

there's a govt website that shows the # of hectares/all the tapu and the nationality of its owners. Amazing to see how much land germans and english own in fethiye...countrywide in fact.

Turkey is such a different experience when you try to learn the language and understand the culture. I wish more expats here felt able to open up more to a new experience

Thats interesting Jennifer, you wouldn't happen to have the address of the site would you?

http://www.tkgm.gov.tr has some info. still looking for the page that gives the xl sheet by il/ilce...

Thanks Jennifer, I'll have a hunt for it later.

JF

I saw those stats reported in the Turkish Daily News. They were completely wrong and fictitious. For example, the report said there were only a few foreigners, 3-4 can't remember, owning small properties in Kalkan. I WISH! Try 3-400.

At the moment there are mostly Turkish residents near us in Gunlukbasi. All very helpful and friendly people. It will be a few years yet before I retire and we leave Antalya permanantly.

If it gets to British around us my wife fancies Sogut and Bekciler, half way between Korkutelli and Fethiye.

I think that they may be a village too far.