No spot to sunbathe for free in Turkey's famous Fethiye

There are no spots to sunbathe free of charge in one of Turkey's most famous resort towns, Fethiye, located in the southwestern province of Muğla.

The issue of cabin-tents for private rental on the beaches had previously come to the agenda when people could not find spots to sunbathe on Kumburnu beach in Ölüdeniz, one of the most famous coves in the world.

The coves where these cabin-tents are lined up are under the control of private businesses, thus when one wants to enter the beach they have to pay an entrance fee, in addition to renting a sunbed or cabin-tent.

Daily spending for swimming and sunbathing increases even more when people pay for a barbecue and food.

"There are beaches and sea all around, but there is no place to enter them for free," the people have been complaining. 

Nearly all of the beaches people can swim in on the Fethiye coastline are being run by private businesses.

Most of them have been rented for up to 10 years, thus leaving no public space for swimming or sunbathing. 

The cabin-tents in Ölüdeniz's Kumburnu were removed a day after daily Hürriyet reported the large number of them on Aug. 11.

The issue was also slammed by Fethiye Mayor Behçet Saatcı, who shared the report from his social media account and drew attention to the similar situation in the Küçük Samanlı, Büyük Samanlı and Kuleli coves in Boncuklu Yarımadası. 

In order to enter the three aforementioned coves, one has to pay an entrance fee disguised as a "parking toll." 

The business owners, who rented the beaches until the end of 2023 with a tender carried out by the Fethiye Forestry Department three years ago, have been surpassing the ban on entrance fees by calling it a "parking toll"...