Dalyan

Dalyan
Town
Dalyan
Location of Dalyan within Turkey.
Country	Turkey
Region	Aegean
Province	Muğla
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	48x xx
Area code(s)	00 (90) 252
Licence plate	48
Website	www.dalyan.bel.tr

Dalyan is a town in Muğla Province located between the well-known districts of Marmaris and Fethiye on the south-west coast of Turkey. The town is an independent municipality, within the administrative district of Ortaca.

Dalyan achieved international fame in 1987 when developers wanted to build a luxury hotel on the nearby İztuzu Beach, a breeding ground for the endangered loggerhead sea turtle species. The incident created major international storm when David Bellamy championed the cause of conservationists such as June Haimoff, Peter Günther, Nergis Yazgan, Lily Venizelos and Keith Corbett. The development project was temporarily stopped after Prince Philip called for a moratorium and in 1988 the beach and its hinterland were declared a protected area, viz. Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Environmental Protection Area.

Life in Dalyan revolves around the Dalyan Çayı River which flows past the town. The boats that ply up and down the river, navigating the maze of reeds, are the preferred means of transport to all the local sites.

Dalyan means "fishing weir" in Turkish. Bass, Mullet and Sea Bream swim upstream from the sea to Köyceğiz Lake where another large town of the region, Köyceğiz, is located. The fish spawn there, and when returning to the sea they are caught in the "dalyans".

In addition to its attraction as a tourist destination, the region around Dalyan is a highly fertile and productive agricultural zone. Cotton used to be grown intensively, but has now largely been replaced by pomegranate. In the area around Köyceğiz many other fruits (citrus fruits) and vegetables are grown, which are all on display in the market on Saturdays, the day when villagers come from miles around to sell their products.

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Wikipedia