Pollution destroying Turkey's Lake Çubuk

Littering is a major problem that needs to be paid attention to in Turkey. From rivers to highways, lines of litter and trash are polluting natural beauty There is something I do not understand in Turkey. From the first moment I visited the country, whenever I went to someone’s house, I always had to take off my shoes and leave them outside at the entrance.

It sometimes creates a funny picture, especially when there are a lot of visitors in a house at the same moment. Tens of pairs of shoes covering several steps on the stairways or, if it is an apartment, blocking the passage to the other floors…

Turks are quite clean people; especially when it concerns their own house. But whenever I am on the road, I frequently see people throwing their litter out of their car’s window. Plastic bags, empty cigarette packages, even empty cans and bottles find their place at the side of the road.

Then there is the phenomenon “piknikçiler,” people who go for a barbeque during the weekend to the forest or any empty place where they can sit, light their barbeque and have some fun. Don't get me wrong, I think it is an essential thing for people, who can to get rid of their stress and relax together with their friends or relatives. But if you go to a place with plastic bags filled with food and drinks then why, after you have finished your picnic, not collect all of the empty things, put them in the plastic bags, and throw the litter into containers along the side of the road? Driving from Kemerburgaz to Bahçeköy in Istanbul, I really become frustrated and very sad.

Why is it that people who care so much about a clean house do not care about a clean environment? It takes years for the litter they leave...