Samir75017
17-08-13, 22:09
20 July 2013
In the summer roughly 600,000 British tourists flock to Turkey’s party capital
Alcohol-fuelled punch-ups have become a nightly occurrence
Locals are often offended by tourists there for sun, sand and cheap booze
Walking six abreast, a group of British teenagers stagger down Bar Street in central Marmaris, scoffing kebabs and swigging from lager bottles at the end of yet another hedonistic night in the Turkish resort.
Coming in the opposite direction is a gang of local youths. They attempt to squeeze past.
But the busy cobbled street is too narrow for everyone to fit. Soon a confrontation develops. Voices are raised, and someone is pushed. Then a punch is thrown.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/19/article-2370625-1AB006A9000005DC-216_634x443.jpg
A British tourist lying injured in the streets of Marmaris after a night out went horribly wrong and he was hit over the head with a bottle
There is the sound of swearing, and broken glass. Within seconds, gun-toting local police officers descend to break up the brawl.
It’s 3.30am and the start of the witching hour when the bars and nightclubs of Marmaris silence their mega-watt sound systems, dim their neon lights, and disgorge thousands of intoxicated young visitors onto the streets.
In the summer months, when roughly 600,000 British holidaymakers flock to Turkey’s party capital in search of sun, sand and cheap booze, these alcohol-fuelled punch-ups are a nightly occurrence.
Yet the ugly fight which broke out around ‘chucking out’ time in the aptly-named Bar Street early yesterday wasn’t the only Anglo-Turkish clash that could be witnessed on the streets of this bustling resort.
At 4.11am, as an orange glow began to fill the eastern skies, the shouts and screams of drunken revellers were suddenly drowned-out by a very different sound: the early morning Islamic call to prayer.
It came from the historic Eski Camii mosque, situated just 20 yards from the bottom end of Bar Street.
Built in 1788, and visible from a distance thanks to its tall, onion-domed roof, it is one of the holiest sites in a region where more than 95 per cent of citizens are practising Muslims.
At dawn yesterday, in the second week of the holy month of Ramadan, devout worshippers walking to the ten mosques in central Marmaris found themselves having to negotiate pavements filled with bleary-eyed young Brits.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/19/article-2370625-1ADFBBBB000005DC-906_634x439.jpg
British holidaymakers can offend local sensibilities with their behaviour when they let their hair down at the Turkish resort
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/20/article-2370625-1ADFBB79000005DC-420_634x423.jpg
Culture-clash: The hedonistic behaviour of the scantily-clad tourists who flood the resort is in stark contrast to the lives of modestly dressed local women.
[...]
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/19/article-2370625-14395A83000005DC-878_634x344.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/19/article-2370625-151055C8000005DC-666_634x432.jpg
Locals in Marmaris are traditionally tolerant but tensions have been rising over the summer
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/19/article-2370625-1AE5BCC2000005DC-662_634x447.jpg
Recent incidents in Marmaris come at a time when Turkey finds itself in the grip of a fierce debate over the role of religion in society
Drunken Brits, angry Muslims and the Med resort that's the frontline in a culture war | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2370625/Drunken-Brits-angry-Muslims-Med-resort-thats-frontline-culture-war.html)
In the summer roughly 600,000 British tourists flock to Turkey’s party capital
Alcohol-fuelled punch-ups have become a nightly occurrence
Locals are often offended by tourists there for sun, sand and cheap booze
Walking six abreast, a group of British teenagers stagger down Bar Street in central Marmaris, scoffing kebabs and swigging from lager bottles at the end of yet another hedonistic night in the Turkish resort.
Coming in the opposite direction is a gang of local youths. They attempt to squeeze past.
But the busy cobbled street is too narrow for everyone to fit. Soon a confrontation develops. Voices are raised, and someone is pushed. Then a punch is thrown.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/19/article-2370625-1AB006A9000005DC-216_634x443.jpg
A British tourist lying injured in the streets of Marmaris after a night out went horribly wrong and he was hit over the head with a bottle
There is the sound of swearing, and broken glass. Within seconds, gun-toting local police officers descend to break up the brawl.
It’s 3.30am and the start of the witching hour when the bars and nightclubs of Marmaris silence their mega-watt sound systems, dim their neon lights, and disgorge thousands of intoxicated young visitors onto the streets.
In the summer months, when roughly 600,000 British holidaymakers flock to Turkey’s party capital in search of sun, sand and cheap booze, these alcohol-fuelled punch-ups are a nightly occurrence.
Yet the ugly fight which broke out around ‘chucking out’ time in the aptly-named Bar Street early yesterday wasn’t the only Anglo-Turkish clash that could be witnessed on the streets of this bustling resort.
At 4.11am, as an orange glow began to fill the eastern skies, the shouts and screams of drunken revellers were suddenly drowned-out by a very different sound: the early morning Islamic call to prayer.
It came from the historic Eski Camii mosque, situated just 20 yards from the bottom end of Bar Street.
Built in 1788, and visible from a distance thanks to its tall, onion-domed roof, it is one of the holiest sites in a region where more than 95 per cent of citizens are practising Muslims.
At dawn yesterday, in the second week of the holy month of Ramadan, devout worshippers walking to the ten mosques in central Marmaris found themselves having to negotiate pavements filled with bleary-eyed young Brits.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/19/article-2370625-1ADFBBBB000005DC-906_634x439.jpg
British holidaymakers can offend local sensibilities with their behaviour when they let their hair down at the Turkish resort
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/20/article-2370625-1ADFBB79000005DC-420_634x423.jpg
Culture-clash: The hedonistic behaviour of the scantily-clad tourists who flood the resort is in stark contrast to the lives of modestly dressed local women.
[...]
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/19/article-2370625-14395A83000005DC-878_634x344.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/19/article-2370625-151055C8000005DC-666_634x432.jpg
Locals in Marmaris are traditionally tolerant but tensions have been rising over the summer
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/19/article-2370625-1AE5BCC2000005DC-662_634x447.jpg
Recent incidents in Marmaris come at a time when Turkey finds itself in the grip of a fierce debate over the role of religion in society
Drunken Brits, angry Muslims and the Med resort that's the frontline in a culture war | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2370625/Drunken-Brits-angry-Muslims-Med-resort-thats-frontline-culture-war.html)