Anamur - MonAmour : Topics

Anamur is still an agricultural region. Tourism is a minor economical factor until now.

Bananas are the most important product. The Banana cropping has influenced the landscape and the Climate in the past 10 years. In the whole region 130.000 Tons of Bananas are produced in a year. (The whole consumption of Bananas in Turkey is approximately 300.000). The local product is protected wit a 145% tax on foreign Bananas. The tax guarantees a rather high profit for Banana cropping. The Banana plantings are criticized for the monoculture agriculture though. It is exploiting the soil in a longer range.

The building of boarding schools in the bigger cities caused the villagers to send their children to the urban centers. The village schools remained wasted, lots of young families migrated from the villages. This process can be compared with similar developments in Europe 40 years ago. In some parts of Europe the re-urbanization of rural areas is attempted today. The Turkish government in a campaign, “returning to the village”, encourages a similar process. Until now the focus is on villages in East-, Southeast-Anatolia and on the Black seacoast though.

The Association for the Protection of Environment and Nature and the support of Tourism in Anamur reconstructed the Village school and the house of the teacher in the village Çataloluk to a cultural center and a guesthouse. Çataloluk is located 16 km northwest of Anamur, 546 meters about the sea level. The villagers live from there small agriculture; Orange fields and strawberries provide a small income. Most households have goats or sheep and cows.

Through excursions the participants are able to get a close look on the environment, its people, their local cultural events and daily living.