Wojciech Fedoruk

Poland - 06-Jun-19 -

I visited this site with my family in late April '19, to have a tick in case it would be inscribed this year. Now we know the nomination was withdrawn by the state party, most probably after negative assessment by Advisory Body. Bad luck, as it was quite a detour, but I cannot say it was a complete waste of time.

Kizilirmak is the longest river in Turkey and in ancient times constituted a border between Asia Minor and Asia 'proper'. Its delta is quite large and at its tip is protected as a national park. It is possible to drive to the heart of the delta by car (although partially on dirt roads). There was visitors center (under restoration, I think they hoped for inscription), lookout tower and bike rental. With a bike you can explore every corner of this place as the whole park is covered by gravel roads. This is because the park, although being protected, is used for agriculture – there are many cows (or buffalos) and hay is regularly mowed. Haymaking may be actually beneficial for many bird species, if done in correct time.

As regards birds, there were really many of them. One can familiarize with the most popular species as their pictures with short description are presented near the road. So the place is heaven for bird spotters. I do not belong to this group, but my children and myself liked this place. It is difficult to assess whether it deserves WH status but how it can be different from Danube delta, which is inscribed and not that far away? As we do not know the Advisory Body assessment, it is difficult to predict whether this site will be pushed by Turkish government.