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Dalyan is located in a province of Turkey name Mugla, in Aegean
region. Two landmarks that travelers can remember going to Dalyan
are the known districts of Turkey, namely Marmaris, Ortaca and
Fethiye. Dalyan is at the southern part of Turkey.
Dalyan became known to foreigners because of its hotels and its
beach, the Iztuzu beach which is a known breeding ground of sea
turtles.
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Dalyan started to gain international fame in 1986, when
certain personalities proposed to erect a luxury hotel near Iztuzu
beach. However, the proposal was discontinued when a British man
name David Bellamy did everything that he could do to cease it. Consequently, the said
beach was declared protected area for the preservation of
loggerheads since this kind of turtle became listed among the
endangered species David Bellany is from England, a Baptist
botanist, author, broadcaster and an environmentalist. Bellany was
one of those who started the idea of nature conservation and the
campaigns to protect the earth from green house effect and global
warming. Aside from in Turkey, he also established his name in New
Zealand. David Bellany’s fought for the preservation of
Iztuzu beach turned out
beneficial for Dalyan.
In Dalyan there is a river called Çayı River that regular Dalyan
tourists know, because, on that river, tourists travel by boat going
to different parts of Dalyan. The word Daly an means fishing weir in
Turkish language. Talking about livelihood, Dalyan is known as an
agricultural town offering variety of vegetables, fruits and exports
cotton. People buy and sell agricultural products in markets every
Saturday.
Dalyan is near to Lycia, another famous historical site in Turkey.
Lycia is a mountainous area and its forest is thick. Ancient
inhabitants of Lycia worshiped the ancient Greek gods and goddesses
like Leto and her twins, the god of music Apollo and his twin
Artemis the goddess of forests and hills when it was occupied by
Greece. Lycia became part of Anatolia. Then, it was integrated to
Turkey during the Ottoman era when the Ottomans invaded Anatolia
known as Asia Minor. An astonishing discovery in studying the
history of Lycia is, it reveals that federal system of government
was applied there thousands of years before it is applied in the
United States of America. It happened when Lycia won in revolting
against the powerful Roman Empire. When the mighty empire granted
Lycia independence, its cities fought against each other until they
agreed to unite as federalist city-states and the union was called
the Lycian League. It was guided by democratic principles. Each city
state elects 1, 2 or 3 representatives on the senate base upon the
sizes of the city-states. When Lycia became part of the Ottoman
Empire, it remained part of Turkey up to this day.
Another place related to Dalyan that gained international popularity
is a street in Dalyan itself name June Haimoff. She was also an
English environmentalist who supported David Bellany for the cause
of preserving the sea turtles. She herself resided in Dalyan when
she retired. Actually, her dream was to be an opera singer; she had
classical music training in music conservatory. Then she pursued
dancing and ballet. Later on, she wanted to be a painter. Her father
was a prominent petroleum engineer, so she was able to tour in all
places in the Middle East. She visited southwestern Turkey for the
first time in July 1975, riding a boat called Bouboulina baught in
Greece. During that time, Turkey was not yet visited by many
tourists. She was branded Kaptan June by the locals. She decided to
stay permanently in Dalyan in 1984, living on the beach. She noticed
that the sea turtles were gradually vanishing as more buildings are
erected on the beach along with the development of tourism. This
prompted her to dedicate her efforts to conserve the site and
attracting international attention to the welfare of the turtles.
She wrote her struggle and victory for the survival of these turtles
in her book Kaptan June and the Turtles published in 1997.
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