Turkish Riviera

Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mahir Ünal has said the sector has unavoidably affected negatively with the Russian crisis as well as regional uncertainties. He expects around 4.5 million losses in the number of Russian tourists this year. 

Museums and ancient sites in the western province of Mu?la were visited by nearly 850,000 people last year, with the revenue from these visits topping 6 million Turkish Liras. 

Home to many ancient sites on UNESCO's temporary list of world heritage sites, Mu?la's Sedir Island and Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum were the most popular places for tourists in 2015. 

The Greek coast guard detained two Turkish captains on suspicion of facilitating the smuggling of 14 Syrian refugees to the Greek island of Kalymnos, a local news website from the island has reported. 

The Antalya Women's Museum is set to become Turkey's third women's museum following ones in Istanbul and ?zmir, having already launched a virtual museum online.

Turkey is trying to lure more European football clubs this year, though it has lost around 50 million euros in football tourism income amid the diplomatic crisis with Russia, said a senior sector representative. The Mediterranean resort of Antalya alone is expected to host around 1,500 football clubs in 2016 for more than 55 million euros of tourism income. 

An ancient water well has been unearthed during a drainage excavation at a construction site in the western province of Mu?la's Bodrum district. 

The construction of a housing project on Alibaba Street in Bodrum's Çar??baba neighborhood unearthed a number of artifacts thought to date back to the Hellenistic era. 

The best news in recent days is this: One of the most important port cities of the ancient era, Phaselis in Antalya, has finally been saved with its ruins dating back to the seventh century B.C. together with its endemic plants, whose names are mentioned in mythology.

Southern Antalya province's resort town of Belek, a popular destination for golfers, is aiming to increase its share of the global golf tourism market to compensate for the loss of Russian tourists.

The opening exhibitions of the Antalya Culture and Arts (AKS) center, the new culture and arts platform in the center of the southern province of Antalya, have been seen by more than 8,000 visitors in the first three months. 

Two young people were killed in a traffic accident in the southern province of Antalya on Dec. 20 when a pickup ran over them as they were taking a selfie on the road.