TURKISH AUTHORITIES MAKE LIFE DIFFICULT FOR CRUISERS

We’ve heard from friends in Marmaris that a new regulation has been introduced limiting the time visitors can spend in Turkey to 90 days in any period of 180 days, making Turkey similar to Schengen Treaty countries. Previously a visitor could get a 90 day visa, exit for a few hours to a Greek island before the completion of 90 days, return to Turkey and get a new 90 day visa. Considering the amount spent by the cruising community in Turkey on marinas, R&M, supplies and travel this seems to be a crazy decision, and seems certain to both dramatically reduce the number of cruising visitors, and the time they spend in Turkey. Apparently there is a way around this, that if a cruising visitor has a long-term contract with a marina he/she can obtain a residency permit, but no doubt this adds more cost and bureaucracy.
This decision comes on top of already-introduced regulations limiting the time yachts can spend in certain areas, and requiring the purchase of a “Blue Card” (an electronic card) to record the discharge of sewage from holding tanks into shore-based pump-out stations. So far it’s not clear how rigidly this regulation is being enforced, but it’s causing consternation, due to both added cost and the limited number of pump-out facilities. Another regulation is being talked about requiring yachts to have holding tanks for water from showers and sinks (grey water). Most yachts under about 15m simply don’t have the space for additional holding tanks, apart from the huge cost of designing, building and installing the tanks with their required plumbing.
Add to this the huge increase in the cost of casual marina berths in Turkey over the last five years (now typically about 80 Euro per night for a 14m yacht), and the Turks appear to be killing their golden goose.