[**claire**]

After the progress made in relations with the European Union, the coasts of Turkey have become an attractive destination for foreigners who want to live in the warm climate of Anatolia. The southern Aegean coasts, especially Didim and Bodrum, are spots particularly favored by foreigners among Turkey's famous coastal resorts.



According to information obtained from local administrations, there were around 10,000 foreigners living in the Didim district of Aydin and Mugla's Bodrum district. Of this total, an estimated 5,000 already own property in one of these two areas, while 3,000 foreigners are also awaiting approval for property ownership.

Changes to daily life and lifestyle are occurring in some areas because of the unusually high number of foreigners living in Bodrum and Didim. Water bills have started to be printed in English, for example, and initial preparations are under way by the local administration to build churches and cemeteries in Bodrum and Didim for non-Turks. Further developments include a local newspaper in Didim publishing a weekly English edition named Didymian.

According to information from local officials, there has been an incredible increase in the number of British tourists living in Didim and its surrounding area. Approximately 6,000 foreigners live in or around Didim, 4,000 of whom own homes in the area, while 1,500 Britons are awaiting approval to buy a house. Didim has almost turned into a British village overseas with English language signs in shops.

In Bodrum, on the other hand, the non-Turkish population has grown by over 4,000 in the last five years; of that number 1,000 have bought houses in Bodrum and its nearby villages. Foreign settlers in these resorts are involved in all kinds of everyday social activities. For example, nongovernmental organizations established by foreigners have been cooperating with local administrations to help solve community problems in the district.

Didim Mayor Mumin Kamaci said that the number of foreigners now almost matched the number of Turkish people living in the district: "We will launch Turkish language courses next month. And we have preparations to build cemetery and churches for foreign settlers. They are important for us, because they are also act as envoys of Turkey to Europe."

Shop owners in Didim and Bodrum are also delighted to have foreign settlers. Yaliavak Mayor Mustafa Saruhan said that they have reserved land for a church to be built in Yalikavak. "We have also launched courses for settlers. They can learn handicraft skills here, and they can also learn Turkish in these courses.” He added.

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Great Info Claire, you are really a great source of info here The info you are giving was also told to me, a friend who lives in Kus !! The real-astate agencys are doing great bussiness!! It's like Spain 20 years ago!!

xx

[x0x_JoAnNe_x0x]

thats cool info very interesting its amazing that their doing all this for foreigners so we all fit in. If only more countries could be like this. xx