☻VIPs visit Bodrum on a regular basis; just these last two weeks Princess Birgitta of Sweden and Prime Minister Fuad Siniora of Lebanon came to visit (inset picture). But it’s apparent that the city has still not refined its VIP hospitality ‘Standard Operating Procedures’ to a point where the VIP is both safe and content and the local population not annoyed. While Mr. Siniora was cheered and appreciated for his modest charm, his bodyguards raised hackles on local residents who had the bad luck to come in contact with his entourage as it tried to shed tenacious newshounds on its way to various destinations on the peninsula.  Bodrum wants and welcomes visits of celebrities, so it must also learn how to handle them with kid gloves without over-zealous guards antagonizing its own population.

☼There are still several months to go before local elections but Mayor Mazlum Ağan has already announced his intention to run for the office for the third time. Mr. Ağan was elected from among fellow members of the Bodrum Municipal Council to serve out the remainder of the term of Mayor Emin Anter who died in March 2001. Mayor Mazlum Ağan has launched his re-election campaign announcing that he will initiate projects to make Bodrum a viable tourism center 50 years on, without sacrificing the town’s historic, cultural and social identity. The voters will undoubtedly appreciate this aspiration, but they are also bound to ask what he has done during his more than seven years in office.