If you thought that Spain and Greece were the only places to find the perfect ‘Blue Flag’ Beach, then think again, as there’s now more than 500 beaches across Turkiye that have been given the prestigious award, and joined the ‘Blue Flag’ club.
Launched in the 1980’s the Blue Flag scheme is open to Beaches, Marina’s and Tourism Activities, with those wishing to apply having to meet very strict criteria which includes cleanliness, accessibility, water quality, environmental impact and environmental management. Specifically for beaches signs are to be displayed giving information about educational activities and water quality (to include sampling and testing) plus there need to also be a set of rules for using the beach & the surrounding areas.
Spain currently has the highest number of Blue Flag beaches, closely followed by Greece with Turkiye hot on their heels – pushing for the top spot, and given that there were 459 Blue Flag Turkish Beaches in 2018 compared to 519 in 2021, they are progressing very nicely.
Antalya currently has the highest number of beaches with the prestigious award, standing at 229, Mugla is next with 111, and Izmir comes in third with 66. The area of Van also has a Blue Flag status thanks to the amazing achievements of the local community at Lake Van, whose shores are in pristine condition. Overall, Turkiye actually acquired 13 more Blue Flag beaches this year, which included five in Antalya and another in Mugla. On top of the renewals, it was also very pleasing to see some beaches winning the prestigious award for the first time, such as Inciralti beach at Lake Iznik.
Professor Abdülkadir Ateş, head of the Foundation for Environmental Education in Turkey (TÜRÇEV) mentioned recently in an interview that ‘Turkiye has achieved significant progress in Blue Flag facilities. Three decades ago there were none, but today we are competing strongly with other countries and we hope to achieve the highest rank.’
