BY MUHARREM SARIKAYA
SABAH- The Marmaris International Maritime Festival, which begins today, will be the first of its kind, for 16 battle and training ships will salute President Ahmet Necdet Sezer upon his entrance into the Port of Marmaris aboard a Turkish battleship. Commanders from the Russian, Ukrainian, and Bahraini navies will be among the officials who will participate in the saluting ceremony.
The idea for this festival was conceived by Naval Forces Commander Adm. Ozden Ornek. In a meeting with top government officials in Marmaris last year, Ornek asked: ‘Every year we attend festivals outside Turkey. Why don’t we organize such a festival in Marmaris?’ Upon this proposal, Mugla Governor Huseyin Aksoy, Marmaris Governor Cemalettin Ozdemir and Mugla Municipal Ali Acar began to research festivals held before, to get an idea on how a festival should be run. The Aksaz Naval Base assisted them in their research, while the General Staff, Office of the Prime Minister, Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB), and the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB) sponsored the event. ‘The preparations were over in just 10 months,’ Ozdemir said.
The Port of Marmaris will host some 3,000 guests from 13 different countries for the next six days. Hopefully, in the near future it will be famous for its festival as well as its seaside and sun.
Aksoy yesterday said that seamanship in Turkey is still underdeveloped, and therefore the main purpose of the festival is to promote domestic seamanship.
The truth is, we haven’t yet learned how to make use of our seaside. Some people living near the shore don’t even know how to swim. A 25 percent rise is expected in the number of tourists visiting Turkey this year. But we still lack skilled tour operators. While the number of unemployed rises, the lack of trained tour guides and personnel continues to hinder the sector’s development.