NEWS

The Priene Festival, to be held in Güllübahçe, near Didim, will feature culture, art and entertainment over two days from May 9-10.

The festival, to be held at the foot of the ancient city of Priene, is expected to include concerts, folk dance performances, local product stalls, and various other events.

Realty World / Choices Real Estate Agency, which has been operating in Didim for 20 years, sold another property last week, this time one belonging to a British couple.

The Realty World team completed the sale of a two-bedroom apartment for John McMullan and Linda Garratt, from Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham.

The last of the three fabled “cemre” is set to fall on March 5-6 ushering in the Turkic world’s harbinger of Nevruz, the festival celebrating the awakening of nature.

According to information from Anadolu Ajansi, the “cemre,” which means “fire, ember, glowing coal” and is believed to fall at weekly intervals, is thought to warm the air, water, and soil after the cold winter days.

The first of the “cemre,” which symbolize the warming weather and the approaching spring, fell into the air on

A 1 billion TL ‘reverse osmosis” system that will convert seawater into drinking water is to be built in Akbük, to tackle the chronic water shortage experienced during the summer months.

The facility will purify 10,000 cubic meters of seawater daily, with a water purification capacity of approximately 115 litres per second, meeting the water needs of 85,000 citizens. This move secures not only Akbük’s current tourism potential but also its future tourism projections for the next 25 years.

The solar-powered water treatment plant will be created and managed as part of a joint project between Aydın Metropolitan Municipality and General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSİ).

According to Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) data, Akbük has a permanent population of 8,496, but this number increases exponentially during the summer months due to tourism and the influx of summer residents.

A near-12 percent rise in housing sales across Aydin province in December year-on-year led to a total 31,010 homes being sold in 2025.

Data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showed that a total of 4,076 housing units were sold in Aydın in the last month of 2025, a remarkable 11.8% increase compared to the 3,643 housing units sold in December 2024.

According to TÜİK data, 31,010 housing units were sold in the city in 2025. Kuşadası ranked first in the province with 7,959 housing sales. While the majority of sales in Kuşadası consisted of second-hand homes, 1,839 sales were made with mortgages.

Didim closely followed Kuşadası with 7,414 housing sales, with 1,467 sales made with mortgages, while 5,947 houses changed hands through other types of sales. The fact that 2,717 first-hand housing sales were made in the district highlighted the interest in new projects.

A new ‘virtual museum” that will enable visitors to see the Temple of Apollo in a completely new light is underway by the Didim Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber of Commerce President Hilmi Erbaş said the “Apollon VR Project” – allowing the Temple to be seen with the help of augmented reality – will be centred at the Knackfuss House.

The two-story Knackfuss House was used as a home by the descendants of those who settled in Didim after the population exchange between Turkey and Greece in 1924. It was later used as a storage facility by the German excavation team conducting archaeological excavations around the Temple of Apollo.

The historic building was transferred to the Miletus Museum Directorate in recent years, but a wall of the building, which is over 100 years old, collapsed in 2020 due to heavy rainfall. It has been under restoration since August 2023.

The start of a new year is the perfect time for fresh beginnings, and Realty World / Choices is leading the way with the launch of its new After Sales Services and Property Management division, designed to provide comprehensive, transparent support to property owners in Didim and surrounding areas.

Built around clear communication, accountability, and trust, the new division has been created in response to the growing need for property owners, particularly those living abroad or away for long periods, to have complete confidence in how their homes are cared for, accessed, and managed in their absence.

A massive 20 million lira project to upgrade Mavişehir, including the popular market place, is underway and will be completed by May 2026.

Didim Municipality will be implementing the project with the aim of solving long-standing rainwater drainage infrastructure problems while creating a social living space for the area.

The project will include

• an 8655 square meter parking lot with a capacity of 276 vehicles,

• restaurant areas

• a 560 square meter children’s playground

• a 700-meter long walking path

• a 600-meter long bicycle path

Realty World, the sister company of Voices Newspaper, has received high praise from a couple who decided to sell up after many happy years in Akbük.

Janet and Ahmad came to Realty World based on the positive experiences of a friend who had sold through the company, and they were not to be disappointed.

The couple said: “We have owned one property or another over the years in Didim. We eventually settled in our beautiful villa in Akbük 9 years ago, we loved it there and spent the majority of our time there. We had great neighbours and loved every minute of our stays.

“However, with very heavy, sad hearts, it came to the point we had come to the decision that it was best to sell. The journey was getting too long and health issues. Our friend had sold previously with Realty World in Didim and she told us about her positive experience.”

A massive shopping mall is to be built around an hour away from Didim, it has been revealed.

The Novada Forum Project, planned by Turkmall, will be built between Bodrum and Milas at the Bosphorus Junction, which is around 15 minutes from Bodrum Airport. The shopping mall, featuring food and beverage areas, entertainment units, and a premium outlet concept in the future, will feature, in its first phase, 20,000 square meters of rentable space on a 60-acre plot of land, with a parking area for 1,500 vehicles.

The site overall is expected to be completed in three phases, with a total investment of approximately $75 million. According to statements made by Turkmall, the mall aims to create up to 4,000 jobs once all phases are completed. This is considered a significant economic contribution, particularly for the young population living in the Bodrum-Milas hinterland and those who struggle to find work outside the peak season.

The project will cater to a projected 50,00 to 60,000 visitors in the summer months and 15,000 in the winter months.