Turkish beach resorts cater to pious Muslims

BODRUM, TURKEY — During this Islamic holiday season of Eid, many Turks are booking a new kind of accommodation: an Islamic, or Halal Hotel. The popular Bodrum resort has begun catering to the country’s increasingly affluent pious-Muslim  population.

At first glance the Sultan Beach Hotel near the Turkish resort of Bodrum appears like any other seaside hotel with its swimming pool, sun chairs, and people sipping cool drinks. But on closer examination there are no women to be seen by the pool and not a drop of alcohol. The hotel is strictly run in accordance with the Islamic faith.

Owner Ali Bicakci prefers the word “alternative” over “Islamic” when describing his hotel.  He says they are meeting a new need.

Whatever kind of holiday you want to have there are always options in the tourism sector, he says. We wanted to provide an alternative concept as there is the increasing need of the conservative people to have holidays. He says they have started with a three-star hotel, but are planning a five-star one.

The Aegean Sea resort is a popular holiday destination for Turks. It is synonymous for wild parties and drinking. “Bedroom Bodrum” is a common saying among the million or so annual visitors.

But the religious setting offered by the Sultan Beach hotel, with its separate pool for women, as well as facilities for prayer, and a strict ban on alcohol, appears to be a winning formula for the guests.

A hotel guest says, even if there are people drinking alcohol around us, it does not bother us. It is their own choice. But she says such an environment is not ideal for her family.

Turkey, under the decade-long rule of the Islamist rooted Justice and Development Party has enjoyed an unprecedented economic boom. But observers say those reaping the benefits are now the pious supporters of the party, rather than the traditional elite.

This has given birth to a wealthy Islamic middle class, which has its own demands and money to pay for them, according to assistant sociology professor Kenan Cayir of Istanbul’s Bilgi University.

“The success of Islamic groups in economy of course they demand to go on holiday in Islamic terms,” he said. “That means we began to see new Islamic hotels and their number tremendously increase in 2000 in the AK [ruling party] period. So Islamic lifestyles have achieved a vertical mobility.”

But with Turkey deeply polarized between the pious and secular, the rise of Islamic hotels has been met with suspicion by some.

In a café in Bodrum, Okan Ozsu of the center-left main opposition Republican People’s Party, is deeply skeptical of the rise of Islamic hotels. He suspects a political agenda behind them.

They are trying to bring their lifestyles to this area, he said. The ruling Islamic AK Party is in a weak position in the coastal towns in this region and he says conservative people from the big cities are imposing their clothing and living styles here.

Perhaps the most visible sign of the rise of Islamic tourism can be seen at the beach.  Many women swim in suits that cover everything except their face, hands and feet.

In a Bodrum beach bar for secular tourists who are more accustomed to revealing bikinis, Islamic swimwear is a culture shock for some.

We should not have anything to do with women in hasema (Islamic Swimwear), we are comfortable people, this tourist says. Explaining the Islamic hotels are not right in the secular country.

But for another woman is more of a case of live and let live.

She says if it is their own preference, then she respects that. She says personally she finds it strange to swim in a costume in which you can not feel the coolness of the water on your skin. But she says how people spend their holiday is up to them.

The debate over secularism and religion has dominated Turkey’s political agenda throughout the decade rule of the AK Party. It should not come as much of a surprise it has arrived at the country’s beaches.

Turkey sets its sights on $126-Billion Islamic tourism market

At first glance, the Sultan Beach Hotel near the Turkish resort town of Bodrum looks like any other seaside resort with its swimming pool, sun chairs and people sipping cool drinks. But a closer look reveals that there are no women to be seen poolside and not a drop of alcohol.
The hotel is run in strict accordance with the Islamic faith, a market segment that Turkish hoteliers are increasingly eager to target.

“Whatever kind of holiday you want to have, there are options in the tourism sector,” said Sultan Beach Hotel owner Ali Bicakci. “We wanted to have an alternative concept as there is an increasing need among conservative people to have holidays.”

Synonymous with wild parties and excess, Bodrum, a popular Aegean-Sea holiday spot often dubbed “Bedroom Bodrum,” would not seem a likely destination for such visitors. But Islamic or “halal” hotels, as they are usually called in Turkey, are fast establishing themselves in such seaside vacation regions. The area around Bodrum, a town of some 130,000, contains six.

Economics, as well as a return to Turkey’s Islamic heritage, explains the trend. Under the decade-long rule of the Islamist- rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom. But rather than the spoils going to the secular elite, the usual recipients, a significant portion of the newfound wealth has spread among the AKP’s pious, grass-roots supporters. That has given birth to a wealthy Islamist middle-class.

“The success of Islamic groups in the economy means they demand to go on holiday on Islamic terms,” explained Kenan Cayir, an assistant professor of sociology at Istanbul’s Bilgi University. “We have seen the number of such hotels tremendously increase during the AK Party’s rule. Islamic lifestyles have achieved a vertical mobility and these hotels are a manifestation of this.”

The world market for Muslim tourism is estimated to be worth $126 billion, according to a 2012 study by DinarStandard, a US company that follows the Muslim lifestyle market, and Singapore-based Islamic travel specialist Crescentrating.

Bicakci, who prefers to describe his hotel as “alternative,” rather than halal, or Muslim-friendly, plans to build another, five-star resort in Bodrum to meet Islamic consumers’ demand for holidays. His existing hotel includes a separate pool for women, as well as facilities for prayer and a ban on alcohol.

“Before these alternative places, it wasn’t very common for us to have such holidays,” said an academic, who gave his name as Hasan, staying at the Sultan Beach Hotel this summer. “Alternative hotels are now being preferred because the times have changed and there are promotions in prices.”

Many such hotels are competitively priced at 30 euros (about $39) a night, a relative bargain for the Aegean and Mediterranean areas where they are mostly located. The sector seems to be growing fast. The Ministry of Tourism reports that 18 “halal” hotels exist in Turkey, but a quick Internet search can turn up more than double that number.

All of Turkey’s major resort areas now have such hotels, with others under construction. Istanbul, which contains three “halal” hotels, will soon feature a five-star Islam-compliant hotel. Last November, the state-owned, Qatar-based Retaj investment group announced plans for a $500 million investment in Islamic hotels in Istanbul and other cities across Turkey, the Hürriyet Daily News reported.

Increasing numbers of Arab visitors is helping to drive the trend. Travelers from Saudi Arabia alone increased a whopping 151 percent (to 42,345 people) between 2011 and 2012, according to the Ministry of Tourism. But with the country deeply polarized between the pious and secular, controversy and conspiracy theories are never far away when the topic of conversation is religion.

“The AKP is in a weak position in the coastal towns in this region,” claimed Okan Özsu, a local official in the Bodrum branch of the Republican People’s Party, Turkey’s main opposition force. “Conservative people from the big cities are forcing their way of life, bringing their clothing and lifestyles, such as separate places for men and women to swim here.”

Swimming is one of the most visible signs of the rise in Islamic tourism, with many women wearing “hasema,” an all-encompassing costume that only reveals the face, hands and feet. For secular visitors to Bodrum, many of whom are accustomed to seeing revealing bikinis, it is something of a culture shock. “We shouldn’t have anything to do with women in hasema,” argued male holidaymaker Murat. “We are a comfortable people.”

But for others, it is more a case of live and let live. “If it is their own preference, sure, I’d respect that,” said Muge, a woman in her 30s sitting on a beach and sipping a beer. “But I think it is difficult for women to swim in hasema.”

In the Kocaeli coastal resort, on the Sea of Marmara, outside Istanbul, the creation of a women-only sector, surrounded by a high partition, on a public beach drew protests in July from locals, who argued that it undermined secularism.

Mother Nature resolved that dispute when a storm blew the partition down. And with observance of Islam on the rise, Turkey’s “halal” hotels, for now, look likely to withstand any stronger, man-made squalls.

Turkey tourism: sun, sea and halal

Forget the bikini-clad Europeans. For a growing number of Turkey’s hoteliers, halal holidays is where the money is at.

With their no-alcohol policy and separate beaches, pools and discotheques for men and women, “family style” holidays are on the rise as hoteliers look to cash in on the new middle class from Turkey’s more religiously conservative Anatolian heartland.

According to Milliyet, the Turkish daily, family-style holidays in Turkey have seen a 200 per cent jump in demand over the past five years.

“There is a tangible and growing demand for halal tourism in Turkey,” Teoman Duman, Associate Professor of Marketing at International Burch University in Sarajevo told beyondbrics. “But due to the political sensitivity of the issue, data is very scarce.”

To be sure, the 200 per cent increase touted in the Milliyet report is coming from a low base. Only five “family-style” hotels existed before 2002, the year the socially conservative AK Party swept to victory, according to Duman. Since then, 39 new seaside establishments have opened, most after 2006.

But there is no denying that halal tourism is a growing niche market. Based on his research using hotels’ own web-site descriptions, Duman reckoned that the halal hotels now make up around 5.6 per cent of the 600,000 hotel beds in Turkey.

Halal tourism is on the rise at thermal spas as well, according to Duman. He said the sector is an important one for Turkey, which is trying to position itself as a distinguished health and wellness destination for European and rich Middle Eastern tourists.

The move into Islamic tourism has also served as a hedge against the eurozone debt crisis, said Nadia Popova, a travel and tourism industry analyst at Euromonitor International.

“Middle Eastern countries, including Turkey, will increasingly go an extra mile, by providing women-only accommodation or halal food, to boost their attractiveness to conservative consumer base and mitigate the negative impact of eurozone woes and political instabilities in the region,” she told beyondbrics.

Tourism is big business for Turkey, generating more than 10 per cent of country’s GDP and more than 7 per cent of total employment. But with growth in the eurozone stagnating and government austerity measures dampening consumer confidence, the decline in European spending has started to bite. Turkish Statistical Institute reported a 6 per cent drop in the number of visiting tourists and a 9.7 per cent decline in tourism-related spending for the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period last year.

As the number of tourists from Britain, Russia and Germany falls, those working in Turkey’s hotel industry will no doubt hope their halal offerings will attract deep-pocketed visitors from the Gulf countries to make up for the slack.

Turkish foundation to help foreign couples to get married

The Mehir Foundation, an organization that financially supports young people planning to marry, will hold mass wedding ceremonies for couples hoping to wed but lacking the financial means to do so in Iraq, Morocco, Mauritania, Palestine and Turkish Cyprus this year.

The Mehir Foundation, located in the Central Anatolian province of Konya, was established in 1996 by a group of businessmen and academics in the province to support young people who plan to marry but lack the financial means to do so. The foundation not only provides furniture and household appliances for the couples, but it also organizes their weddings, finds jobs for them and holds training seminars on how to achieve a successful marriage and family life.

The foundation, which takes its name from the Arabic word “mahr,” which is a compulsory part of an Islamic marriage contract — a gift of money, possessions or property made by the husband to the wife — has so far helped 9,750 couples get married since it was established. It helped 409 couples wed last year, and it plans to help two times more couples abroad as well as in Turkey this year.

The president of the foundation, Mustafa Özdemir, said the achievements of the foundation so far have had effects in and outside of Turkey. “There were also many foreign couples we helped get married in Turkey last year. This made us think why not expand our activities abroad. With both Konya and Turkey becoming more prominent with every passing year, it was out of the question for our foundation to remain local,” he said. He added that Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and his wife, Sare Davutoğlu, are also expected to attend some of the wedding ceremonies abroad.

Turkey: 25 killed in ammunition depot blast

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – An explosion and blaze triggered by an accidentally dropped hand grenade has killed 25 soldiers during a stock check at a Turkish ammunition depot, the government said Thursday.

Four other soldiers were injured in the blast, which lit up the night sky late Wednesday with flames, and shattered windows in homes in the nearby town of Afyonkarahisar in western Turkey, terrifying residents.

Forestry and Water Minister Veysel Eroglu ruled out terrorism and sabotage, saying the blast occurred in a section where hand grenades were kept. The soldiers’ remains were discovered early Thursday after a subsequent blaze was extinguished.

“One hand grenade was dropped during stock-taking and sorting, causing a large explosion,” Eroglu said. “There was no external intervention. There certainly was no sabotage or anything like that.”

Eroglu said hand grenades were found strewn across the area and authorities were detonating them with controlled explosions. Turkey’s NTV television showed security officers walking along a road and in fields, looking for unexploded ammunition.

Families of conscripts serving at the facility rushed to the area after hearing news of the explosions. Many broke into tears after the deaths were reported, NTV said. Some remains were sent to the capital, Ankara, for DNA tests so they could be identified.

Some civilians were evacuated from the nearby town overnight. Authorities warned people to stay away from the area.

In 1997, an explosion at Turkey’s largest weapons factory in Kirikkale in central Turkey killed two people and sparked a fire that raged for days.

Turkey renews Syria strikes, tension escalates

Turkey is continuing its response to a deadly Syrian mortar attack, launching artillery strikes into Syria for a second straight day while the Turkish parliament considers a measure authorizing foreign military operations.

An aide to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey is not interested in war with Syria, but will retaliate when necessary.

The shelling Thursday targeted the same area Turkish forces identified as the source of the Syrian mortars. Five Turkish civilians died Wednesday when the mortars landed in a residential area in Akcakale.

Turkish officials and the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say the retaliatory strikes near the Syrian border town of Tel Abyad have killed Syrian soldiers, but did not specify how many.

The measure before Turkey’s parliament says Syria has carried out “aggressive” actions against Turkish soil despite repeated warnings and diplomatic initiatives. It says there is now a need to act quickly in the face of additional risks and threats.

Turkey already has a law authorizing military intervention against separatist Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.

Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi said Damascus is investigating the origin of the mortar fire, and that Syria offers its condolences to the Turkish people.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Ankara acted within international law and will never fail to retaliate for what he called Syrian provocations against Turkey’s national security.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington is “outraged” at the Syrian mortar strike on Turkey, a fellow member of the NATO alliance.

Turkey sent the U.N. Security Council a letter calling for “necessary action” to stop “aggression” by Syria. U.N. diplomats said the Council was discussing a possible statement in reaction to cross-border attacks.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Syria to respect the territorial sovereignty of its neighbors. He said the escalation shows how the Syrian conflict is increasingly harming neighboring states.

The U.S. Defense Department said the Akcakale incident is another example of what it called the “depraved behavior of the Syrian regime.” It said the United States stands by Turkey as a “strong ally.”

NATO ambassadors held an urgent meeting in Brussels Wednesday at Turkey’s request, and issued a statement demanding the “immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally.” NATO also urged the Syrian government to “end flagrant violations of international law.”

Turkeys says no chemical weapons threat in Syria

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey does not expect Syria to use chemical weapons in the near future but wants to be prepared given that there is such a risk, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said, according to Today’s Zaman.

“We do not see an imminent chemical weapon danger but the risk always exists. There is always risk if you have chemical weapons and the necessary missile capability,” Davutoğlu said at a press conference with his Finnish counterpart, Erkki Tuomioja, in Helsinki.

Asked if Turkish intelligence has information regarding Syrian chemical weapons, Davutoğlu said there has been no use of chemical weapons but added that there was a ballistic missile threat, referring to Scud missile attacks by Syrian forces on opposition targets in the country’s north about 10 days ago.

Turkey has asked NATO to send Patriot anti-missile systems to boost its air defenses, a request NATO has accepted readily. The U.S., Germany and the Netherlands have all agreed to send two Patriot systems each to Turkey. They are expected to be operational by the end of next month or early February.

Davutoğlu also said the collapse of the Assad regime is now a “matter of time” and added that it was up to the international community “to determine how fast the transition will be completed and prevent further disasters.”

Turkish talk show host creates polygamy stir

ISTANBUL – In Turkey, a well-known women’s talk show host has provoked ire among some Turks by offering a friend as a second wife to her husband. The overture thrust polygamy into the national spotlight.

“You have no shame! You are defending adultery,” a woman shouted at Sibel Uresin, an Islamic media personality, during a televised discussion program.

“I get lots of calls people asking me if their husbands can get another wife, what if their husband want to marry again or if I would be the second wife of a man,” Uresin said, defending her controversial stance on polygamy. “I brought this to my husband. I said I have this single friend and I told my husband I am just curious, if you want to marry her I give you my consent, do you want this?”

According to Uresin, her husband declined.

But the controversy has opened up a much wider debate over polygamy. Under the Koran, a man is permitted to take up to four wives. However, since the foundation of the secular republic in 1923, polygamy has been illegal in Turkey.

Still, women’s rights advocate Pinar Ilkkaracan, who has carried out research on polygamy, says it remains a common practice with Imams performing polygamous marriages.

“In our research in the south and southeast of Turkey we found that about 11 percent are polygamous marriages,” Ilkkaracan explained. “But it’s definitely a problem in the west.  You find polygamous marriages in the big cities of Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir. It’s a huge problem for women because the second, third or fourth wives in a polygamous marriage, they don’t have any rights in a marriage. That means women have absolutely no right to an inheritance. In the case of a divorce, absolutely no rights – even to child custody, let alone any payments from the husband and so on.”

Ilkkaracan says it’s significant that the nation’s ruling AK party has remained silent over Uresin’s comments, despite widespread political criticism. She accuses the party of turning a blind eye to polygamy, adding there has not been a single prosecution under its decade-long-rule.

Turkey’s Minister of Family Affairs, Fatma Sahin, announced reforms this month to protect women — among them measures to prevent underage marriages. It’s not uncommon for older men to take women several decades their junior as second wives in a religious ceremony.

The new measures are part of the country’s drive to join the European Union, which has expressed concern over women’s rights in Turkey.

But columnist Akif Emre, who writes for the Islamist Yeni Safak daily, says Ankara has to be careful not to lose its Islamic identity.

“Turkish society values are very different from the European western culture. We cannot change,” noted Emre. “We don’t have to be same we have own cultural historical religious value which we have to keep always even if we join the European union or not. ”
On one of Istanbul’s main streets, the latest controversy over polygamy is divisive.

“I think polygamy is for men, not for women,” one man said. ” Men think polygamy is a normal thing. I think polygamy is better than monogamy. Because of natural selection, we have to introduce many people to generate the best selection.”

But a woman offered a dissenting view.

“Of course I am against it,” she said, ” because if you decide to live with somebody then you live with this person. If you don’t want to live with this person, then you can talk with each other, and take your head, and go away and marry somebody else or whatever. When I was young here, nobody was talking about something like this. That it’s now interesting is more than sad.”

Hijab made stylish by Turkish magazine

Can the Muslim headscarf be synonymous with glamor? Turkey’s first fashion magazine for conservative Islamic women looks set to win the challenge.

In less than a year since it was launched last June, the monthly Ala — meaning “beauty” — has become a mainstream glossy.