Residents of Marmaris object to university project, claim 'nightlife would destroy students’ morals'

MUĞLA – Anatolia News Agency

DHA photo

The residents of the touristic Aegean port of Marmaris kicked off a campaign on March 20 against a project to build two university faculties in the area, collecting petitions claiming that the "moral values of students" would be "corrupted" if they came to the town to study.

Muğla’s Sıtkı Koçman University, owned by a private non-profit foundation, is currently studying whether it can base its communication and law faculties in Marmaris, one of the Turkey's most popular tourist destinations.

However, what might have been welcomed in most towns has come up against considerable resistance among Marmaris locals. "With the flow of students the rents will rise. Five or six students will share apart hotel rooms and they won’t be able to find healthy housing," said Filiz Ersan, the head of the local Tourism and Nature Volunteers Association.

Ersan also stressed that Marmaris’ lively night life could have a negative effect on students living in the area. "It would be particularly dangerous for the clean and pure youths coming from the countryside who would be far from their families. The nightlife would destroy all their moral values,” she said, adding that there was a lack of police officers in the city, especially during winter.