DALÇEV

A controversial tender made for the privatization of the facilities at ?ztuzu beach on the Mediterranean Sea will be canceled, Turkish Environment and Urban Planning Minister ?dris Güllüce has said.

Turkish Environment and Urban Planning Minister ?dris Güllüce has sought to assure concerned citizens that his institution will not sacrifice the idyllic beach of ?ztuzu, renowned for being one of the most important breeding areas for loggerhead turtles (caretta caretta), for "a few sunbeds."

Local activists, who had begun to camp near the protected ?ztuzu beach on the Mediterranean Sea to denounce a privatization deal, halted their protest early on Jan. 9 after a new court order to suspend the sale process was issued.

Turkey?s Environment Ministry has given its full backing to the privatization of the protected Mediterranean beach of ?ztuzu, known as one of the most important breeding grounds for loggerhead turtles (caretta caretta), as protests against the move entered their second week.