The only bit of Turkey I've been to is the area around Adana and Mersin, right in the NE corner of the Med. lt is a very poor area but the main roads are very good. The population seems unable to afford the toll from Adana to Mersin which is $1US. $US are accepted almost everywhere due to the huge USAF base at Incirlik. Food is incredibly cheap and local money worth nothing. 1 million Lira/£ in Dec 2000. Area is characterised by ancient re-badged fiats and blocks of flats, half of which are empty or unfinished.

Adana:- Virtually nothing to reccomend it except a very nice new mosque. Stay away from the old quarter. There is a fantastic gorge about 20mins to the N.

Incirlik:- The base is heavily guarded due to terrorist threat. There is a strip of shops at the main gate. Good buys are gold and silver (Ilmaz), Carpets (Top Gun), Leather (Burt's (ask for Barish) or Pop's), fake watches (Murat's), fake Nike sports cloths (Ilmaz) and squadron coins (Tims). There is also lots of cheap Turkish tat. To eat try the Happy House, about half way down. Bartering is the order of the day, everyone speaks good english. On base the gym is superb with hundreds of machines and 4 racketball courts. Ask at reception for the bats etc. It's like squash but better. The Turkish Cafe does a superb pizza, much better and cheaper than the American place. The Class 6 is pretty well stocked but the fridges empty really fast on non-flying days. If you are on Det. (TDY) you can e-mail for free from the morale tent. Most other ranks accomodation is tents with hard divisions inside. They are air conditioned so not as bad as you might think. SNCOs and Os are in standard US transit, some with living rooms and kitchens. There is always a large Det contingent so never a shortage of parties on down days. The commisary is superb but the large BX somewhat dissapointing. There are book, sport, video, furniture, toy stores, and there is still some stuff in the old BX beside the Class 6. The camp is fully on line so it is worth getting a password for the system in your work accom. as you can then e-mail and surf in private. n.b. they have very efficient porn blockers. There is a pretty good 9 hole golf course. Abby the groundsman will sell you new balls he's fished out of the numerous lakes for under 50c. Half price day is Sunday.

Kisskilezie:- Probably spelt wrongly, a small tourist resort with a nice beach and 2 castles, one on an island. The boatman will take you out at $5 for 3 people. Some nice restaurants around but agree a price before ordering.

Mersin:- Built by the sea and appears to do tourist trade mainly for locals. All concrete blocks and barely worth a visit as far as I could see from a brief drive through.