Tourists warned not to smoke at famous Sedir Islan

[Fenlander]

Tourists warned not to smoke at famous Sedir Island are shocked to see that the ban does not cover personnel and security officials

YAÞAR ANTER
MUÐLA – Doðan News Agency


The failure of officials at the world-renowned Sedir Island, known for its special beach sand, to abide by the smoking ban has shocked visiting tourists and embarrassed the agencies that warned their guests.

One agent said, “We are warning all the tourists not to smoke on the island, but what we see here makes us look bad.”

Egyptian sand

The island, in the southwestern province of Muðla on the Aegean coast, attracts around 300,000 tourists every year who want to sunbathe and swim along its Cleopatra beach.

According to local legend, the sand on Cleopatra Beach was brought over from Egypt over 2,000 years ago by a Roman, Mark Anthony, for his lover Cleopatra.

In fact, the crystallized sand particles formed through the high carbonate content of the seawater solidified over millennia.

These special sand particles, all of which are almost equal in size with a diameter of less than one millimeter, look more like fish eggs and are said to be present only on Cleopatra Beach and the Red Sea shores.

The smoking ban on the island was imposed several years ago to protect the nature, the sand, its amphitheater and other historic ruins. The smoking ban signs, in both Turkish and English, are being blatantly ignored by those working on the island.

Burçan Köknel from the Tez Tourism Agency says she holds tours to the island three times a week and constantly warns tourists to abide by the rules. There are bans on sunbathing, removing any sand and smoking on the island.

“However, since the summer season began, whenever we bring anyone here, we see the personnel smoking away. There are signs all over the island and officials are smoking right next to them.”

Muðla Governor Ahmet Altýparmak, when told of the matter, said he was shocked, noting that at a time when the state was trying its best to improve the quality of tourism services provided, the rules in place should be abided by the state personnel first and foremost.

“We impose bans but our own personnel will violate them. This is not acceptable. I will do what is necessary to ensure personnel follow the rules.”

According to the new anti-smoking law that came into effect May 19, those who smoke in no-smoking areas are fined YTL 50, those who throw their cigarette butts on the ground are fined YTL 20 and owners of businesses that allow smoking even though it is banned face a fine of YTL 5,000.

However, experts had noted that the smoking ban is useful if it is implemented correctly, suggesting a wait-and-see approach on assessing the ban.