Post by Fenlander on Jun 11, 2008 9:44:23 GMT 2
Turkey lacking in funeral services for foreign residents’
Murat Aslanoðlu, a board member of the European Funeral Services Federation, has said that Turkey needs new laws regarding funeral services, citing constant demand from foreign residents.
Aslanoðlu and other representatives from funeral service providers in Europe are meeting this week at the first International Funeral Services Conference, which is being held at Antalya’s Talya Hotel. Representatives from funeral service companies in Germany, Belgium, France, England and Greece are also attending the conference.
Aslanoðlu, who also runs a private funeral services company, told reporters that due to the steep rise in the number of Turkey’s foreign residents his company had seen a 90 percent increase in services provided to foreign residents over the past five years. He said that in Turkey wealthy and poor citizens receive the same services because local municipalities are responsible for funeral services. He said explained that while in Europe the cost of funerals started at around 2,500 euros, in Turkey this cost was between YTL 100 and YTL 4,500 depending on the cemetery. Aslanoðlu noted that many foreign residents in Turkey were making increasing demands for such services as cremation or having bodies buried inside coffins.
Aslanoðlu noted that because local municipalities handle funerals in Turkey, there were no set standards of quality. ‘’Because the providing of funeral services is under the authority of municipalities in Turkey, unfortunately not everyone receives the same level of service. Also, due to this handing over of these services to the municipalities, people from other cultures are discouraged from requesting services,” explained Aslanoðlu
Turkey is in need of many more private funeral services companies, Aslanoðlu said, adding, “Turkey also needs a new law that would oversee the providing of these funeral services.” He explained that currently there weren’t enough cemeteries for foreign residents in Turkey. He pointed in particular to popular coastal cities, such as Marmaris, Fethiye and Bodrum, where he said there were not enough cemeteries for non-Muslim residents.
Aslanoðlu also said he has heard frequents requests from foreigners residing in Turkey for such services as funeral homes with special washing rooms and morgues, private cemeteries, crematoriums and even religious figures for funeral services.
He said demand for crematoriums, in particular, had been rising, noting that in fact municipalities do have the authority to open such places as there were no legal obstacles to prevent them from doing so. He noted that there was currently a legal vacuum where cremation was concerned, in that there were no laws stating what the procedures should be were a body to be cremated in Turkey. He said: “Legally speaking, the procedures concerning human ashes need to be clarified. Otherwise, this could arise as a legal problem in the future. … Since there is no law stating ‘Ashes may be scattered,’ or ‘Ashes may not be scattered,’ this could potentially pose some problems.” Aslanoðlu also noted that, with the exception of the Ýstanbul Municipality, there were no other municipalities with laws allowing for private cemeteries. He then noted that foreigners living in cities such as Marmaris, Fethiye and Bodrum who wanted to be buried in Turkey were already purchasing the desired funeral services from private British companies.
Some of the panel topics being addressed at the Antalya conference include subjects such as coping with death and help for loved ones.
