Yacht parking to begin in the pristine bays of Göcek

The Ministry of Environment has rolled up its sleeves to establish a parking system for luxury yachts in the bays of Göcek, which are designated as protected areas. Centuries-old seagrasses are in danger.

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Yacht parking to begin in the pristine bays of Göcek

Just as the occupation of beaches and coastlines by private businesses and the resulting usurpation of the public's right to access the sea are being discussed, the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization is stepping in to introduce yet another 'new service' for the wealthy!

Hürriyet newspaper columnist Fatih Çekirge, known for his passion for maritime affairs, shared a conversation he had last week with Minister of Environment and Urbanization Murat Kurum—who was returned to his former seat after failing to win the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality—and announced that a new yacht regulation would be coming specifically for Fethiye, Muğla.

In his column today, Çekirge penned the information provided to him regarding the matter by Prof. Dr. Ferhat Pirinççi, head of the Environmental Agency, which will install the mooring and buoy system that Kurum mentioned.

So, what exactly will be done in Göcek, a holiday paradise in the Fethiye district of Muğla? As of 2025, 100 mooring buoys will be installed. If you ask what a mooring buoy is, you won't find the exact answer in Çekirge's column or in the news report published by Anadolu Agency on May 26. Let us explain: A mooring buoy is a system that allows yachts and boats to stop along the coast without dropping anchor. Although the Environmental Agency official speaking to Çekirge announced that they would install this system to prevent yachts from destroying precious seagrasses by dropping anchor along the Göcek coast, this issue is highly controversial.

Because, just like the Ministry of National Education saying "we are taking the opinions of unions" for its new curriculum—which is criticized for being reactionary—and then passing the curriculum with zero changes without caring about any opinions, the Ministry of Environment said three months ago that "we will consult the opinions of NGOs" for this system, but the project is not changing despite the objections.

'THE PUBLIC, THE TRUE OWNERS OF THE SEA, ARE THE VICTIMS'

However, many non-governmental organizations in Muğla have raised science-based objections to this project, and some of these objections have been published in the local press. For example, the South Aegean Industrialists and Business Federation (GESİFED). In a press release regarding the issue, GESİFED opposed the system intended to be implemented in the bays located within the Fethiye-Göcek Special Environmental Protection Area, which are 1st and 3rd-degree natural protected sites, and stated that when the specifications are examined, this project will bring many dangers with it.

GESİFED's main objections are as follows:

• The regions in question are within the scope of 1st and 3rd-degree natural protected sites.

• The implementation allows for the formation of an institution in the form of parking lot management on the sea.

• Our citizens, who are the true owners of the sea and coasts that belong to the public, will not be able to enter them freely.

• It closes the bays, which are among the most important regions for 'Blue Cruise' tourism—one of our country's most value-added tourism products—to the use of our gulets, and makes the use of the bays appointment-based and paid. This situation contains technically inapplicable problems that are contrary to the nature and working system of Blue Cruise activities. This sector is one of our sectors that should be given great care with its thousands of employees consisting of local people, the value-added it produces, the foreign currency inflow it creates, and its clean tourism characteristics. These practices will be one of the devastating blows to our Blue Cruise activities, whose living space is already shrinking day by day.

WHO WILL PAY THE PRICE FOR THIS SERVICE?

There is a solid basis for GESİFED defining this project as "sea-based parking." There are strong indications that the Ministry sees this project, which will increase both yacht traffic and the number of yachts stopping in the region, as a new source of revenue. Pirinççi, speaking to Çekirge, states that they will prepare an application for yacht owners in this system, that the section where each yacht will dock will be determined by an appointment system before the yachts even arrive, and that they will personally ensure the waste controls of the yachts. At this exact point, two options emerge: Either the Ministry will provide this service with its own resources—that is, with the taxes collected from the citizens—without charging yacht owners, or it will lease the pristine coasts to yacht owners at a certain tariff in exchange for these services.

Moreover, there is another critical detail that is not in Çekirge's column but was announced in the news that appeared in Anadolu Agency 3 months ago: It is true that the Ministry plans to install 100 mooring buoys in 2025, but its short-term goal is to increase this number to 700!

News Source: 12punto