Mounted gendarmerie on duty around Salda Lake

A mounted gendarmerie team has started to work in Salda Lake, famous for its turquoise water and white beach in Yeşilova district of the southern province of Burdur.

In order to ensure that the natural beauties of Salda Lake in Burdur are safe, which is visited by thousands of local and foreign tourists every year, and the forest areas around it are not adversely affected by the intense number of visitors, a mounted gendarmerie team has started to patrol the lake since the summer months of 2020.

Accordingly, the Gendarmerie General Command assigned the team from the Gendarmerie Horse and Dog Training Centre Command (JAKEM) to Salda Lake temporarily between 6 June and 10 August this year.

The mounted team is actively patrolling around the Doğanbaba forest area and the nature park in order to prevent wildfires and fight against crimes.

People having picnics in the forested areas around Salda Lake are warned by the team not to light a fire, and visitors are informed about environmental and forest-related offences.

Salda Lake attracted more attention after the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that it has similar characteristics with the Jezero crater on Mars.

Previously on Oct. 15 in 2020, the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry banned the entry of visitors to the lake as they were opening pits on the shore of the lake and taking mud baths with the belief that it is beneficial for the skin.

The Burdur Governor's Office has also banned mud bathing or taking mud or clay from the premises. After the ban, it was observed that the mud pits on the shore closed by themselves.