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June News From Fethiye – Good Times

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Hello from a very hot Fethiye!

Yes, after a cool, wet and stormy springtime when it seemed as though summer was struggling to make an appearance, here it is all of a sudden!

Announced itself almost overnight. No gradual acclimatisation process going on here, we can tell you – and that includes nighttime, too.

Here are the current Fethiye temperatures.

But without further ado, let’s have our monthly update of news from Fethiye

Thin On The Ground

Regular readers might have noticed brand new articles have been a bit thin on the ground of late.

That’s because May and June have just about been one big friend fest.

It’s been so lovely to see so many people again. We have friends here as I type and all the days merge. Routine goes out of the window and we all have a great time…

…And new articles don’t get written!

Kaş town square backed by cliffs
A trip to Kaş with friends is always a good idea

But, we have been busy doing day trips, a short break and enjoying a few of the things that Fethiye has to offer. So we have lots of articles stacked up and almost ready to go.

A short break to pretty Kaş – we do love that little town – means we can do some little updates to that page, too. Not that Kaş ever changes much – and long may it stay that way.

Kurban Bayramı

This year, Kurban Bayramı (Eid al-Adha) fell towards the end of June. The holiday is in full swing as I type – and that is one article that has been written for this month!

As is quite common here, the government declared an extended 9 day holiday for this year.

This gives more time for local people to travel and enjoy the holidays. And it’s a good boost for coastal resorts like Çalış Beach and Ölüdeniz – as well as other resorts in the country.

Families enjoying the beach and swimming in the sea. Colourful rattan parasols line the beach.
A more crowded Çalış Beach during Kurban Bayramı

People who have descended on the Turkish coastline have certainly got the weather, now.

Meanwhile, friends in Istanbul are making the most of their much quieter city. Brief respite from overcrowded streets and highways.

Çalış Spring Fayre

Because of the Presidential elections, this year the Çalış Spring Fayre was held on the first Sunday in June; a week later than originally scheduled.

Crocheted bags for sale on a stall at the spring fayre in Çalış
Lots of artisan goods at the Çalış Spring Fayre

Always nice to see so many stalls along the beach promenade.

Artisan goods to purchase and support local craftspeople and traders. Local charities also get the opportunity to boost their coffers, too.

In Sport

June is not usually a busy time for football news from Fethiye but we do have some.

At the beginning of the month, local amateur team, Ölüdenizspor won promotion. They have been promoted from From Muğla 2 Amateur League to Muğla 1 Amateur League.

Big well done to them!

Fethiyespor Match
Fethiyespor will be in Red Group for the 2023-24 season

And as for Fethiyespor, things are already starting to take shape for the 2023-24 season.

Last season, the team finished in 8th place in 2. Lig, so no promotion for them.

A few days ago, the draw was made to see which teams would be in which group. League 2 is divided into two groups – Red Group (Kırmızı) and White Group (Beyaz).

Fethiyespor were drawn in the Red Group.

The new season usually begins at the end of August. As soon as the fixtures are up, we’ll be doing our usual page so you can see fixtures, results and league standings.

In The Kitchen

We hold our hands up, in this department. Precious little has happened in our kitchen by way of experimentation with new Turkish recipes.

Far too busy with summer fun – and too hot.

The plan was to have our friends over for food one night and be all organised.

A bowl of Turkish saşkşuka. Chopped aubergine, potato, peppers and tomatoes. Topped with freshly chopped parsley.
Our homemade şakşuka – friends got the shop version

As it happened, we all spent the day along the beach, walked to our house and stopped off at the shop on the way home. And bought all the food we would usually make ourselves.

Köfte, hummus and şakşuka were all out on the table – fresh from their sealed packets! Oh dear!

But all lovely. A spontaneous event.

We have done some cooking, of course.

Notably, we celebrated International Falafel Day with – you guessed it – some homemade falafel.

Easy Green Lentil Salad
Always a summer favourite – green şentil salad

And the hot weather has meant a rotation of various cold meze dishes in the fridge. Cacık, kısır, green lentil salad and barbunya pilaki have been some June favourites.

Out & About

Beaches, Fethiye bars and restaurants, bars and restaurants elsewhere, gorges (of course, Saklıkent), road trips – it all happens when friends are here to play.

Three bar food stand outs for this month.

If you’re looking for a great chicken schnitzel burger, Denizatı Restaurant‘s (along the harbour) really hits the spot.

A chicken schnitzel burger on a bed of lettuce and topped with breaded onion rings. Served with chips.
The Denizatı chicken burger makes for a great seaside snack

On the beefy side of things, Cafe Pazar on Yerguzlar Caddesi do fabulous burgers – and they’re served with homemade chips, too. Bonus.

And down at Karataş Beach, three of us ordered the Adana dürüm (Adana Kebab in a wrap). We all loved it.

All are reasonably priced, too.

And, also along Fethiye harbour, Boğaziçi Restaurant has had a real summer spruce up and is looking really great, we think!

Looking down the harbour promenade in Fethiye. Tables and chairs on one side, the restaurant on the right
A new look for Boğaziçi Restaurant

In Other News

It’s been a crazy busy month, but we have managed to make a note of other goings on as and when we come across them.

Taekwondo

In sport, female Turkish athlete, Merve Dinçel won gold in the Taekwondo Championships. She is now the World Champion and she beat the top ranked athlete to bag her prize. Well done to her!

Nearly But Not Quite

Staying in sport, Bodrumspor football team had an awesome League 1 season and lost in their final play off match to get promotion to the Turkish Super League.

Just wow! League 1 is dizzy heights for a club the size of Bodrum. Super League… A proud town at the moment there, and we wish them well in their endeavour to succeed in getting promotion next season.

Travel Options

In travel news, if you’re looking to visit Istanbul from the south of England at any time, your options have just been increased.

British Airways have announced a new route from Heathrow to Sabiha Gökçen Airport on the Asian side of the city.

Turkish-Greek Friendship

The hillside at the entrance to the bay on Kastellorizo. Colourful houses and a mosque fill the frame whilst a castle tops the hill
Swim between Meis and Kaş

And in sport and friendship news, last week, the Meis (Kastellorizo) to Kaş swim took place. A 7.1 kilometre swim across the choppy Mediterranean waters between Greece and Turkey.

The swim, whilst a competition, is also about promoting friendship between the two neighbours. This year’s event was the 17th time it took place.

193 swimmers from 17 different countries took part. And we’re sure people on this side of the water will be happy that both the men’s and women’s races were won by Turkish swimmers.

A similar event also takes place between Datça and their nearby Greek neighbour; the island of Symi.

Into July

Needless to say, it’s going to get hotter from here!

We’ll be wilting for the next 8-10 weeks or so. But we shall soldier through.

Even when new articles don’t appear very regularly in your inbox (if you’re an email subscriber), rest assured the blog is not being neglected. We’re always doing something to it.

Online jigsaws go on there twice weekly, too.

And if you don’t already, you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We generally post different stuff to each so you’re not looking at the same old, same old all the time.

And, as we said earlier in the news update, we’ve got lots of articles lined up; some partially written. They’re all en route to your screen of choice, soon…

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Mike

Saturday 1st of July 2023

Been on holiday to Kalkan many times before we moved here, but never made is to Kaş. Any restaurants you can recommend?

Turkey's For Life

Friday 7th of July 2023

Hi Mike, thanks a lot for the comment. :) We tend to eat wherever, whenever when we're in Kaş. This time, we ate at Panorama (think it was called that) just up the hill along the seafront. We wanted a sea view as a treat. Food was nice. :)

Brian Drummond

Friday 30th of June 2023

Excellent

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