“BUY a drink, set me free,” says the handsome bartender with a wink as I stroll down the street for a Friday night party.
That’s the standard line here, and from what I’ve seen, it certainly rings true.
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Marmaris in Turkey has grown in popularity among British women looking for romantic beach romance Credit: Olivia West
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Some women who have become involved with local men have been shamed online Credit: Olivia West
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Katie Rees, with friend Ffion Cooper, says Marmaris is like ‘Thailand for women’ Credit: Olivia West
Dancers and bar staff are the norm in the UK.
But in Marmaris, Turkey, every beach bar is staffed by wealthy, young men who are topless, oiled up and performing sexy acts for pleasure seekers, including thousands of Brits.
This holiday hotspot has become popular with British women, many of whom are younger, and throngs of them drop by every summer in search of romantic romance on the beach.
However, some have been shamed online for hooking up with local men.
“This is Thailand for women,” laughs Katie Rees. “I had a one-night stand with Omar. I know he has a dozen different women on the move, but I’m just here for fun.
“We like Turks because they are tall, dark and handsome and they are better in bed. I feel sorry for all the Welsh boys back home.”
Katie, a 22-year-old support worker from South Wales, is enjoying her holiday with her friend Ffion Cooper, 23, a hairdresser from Cardiff.
Omar is a handsome bartender at Taverna Tigers, one of the most sought-after spots on the strip. He laughs as he recounts how he left a “big bite mark” on Katie’s bottom.
When I ask him if he broke many hearts this summer, a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.
Katie interjects playfully, “I could break his heart.” Omar replies: “I don’t have a heart to break.”
Drunken Brits wander the alleys, drink six times and get slapped as they party on a Greek island called Mykonos with no attitude
Serial love rats
While female tourists were clamoring for the attention of local beach boys, a Facebook group appeared calling them names and shaming them.
The group, with more than 16,000 members, operates without an official administrator, making it a chaotic “wild west”.
The site is flooded every day with defamatory posts about British women accused of “stealing” Turkish men, accompanied by warnings and photos of alleged serial love rats.
Some of the contents are so explicit and controversial that we cannot repeat them here.
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Some women dating Turks were followed online in a Facebook group Credit: Olivia West
Cheryl Farnan-Jones, 39, who moved from Saddleworth in Greater Manchester to Marmaris in 2018, told me she was placed in the group.
“I felt sick to my stomach,” she recalls. “There was a picture of me with the caption ‘It’s about time this vile old cow got out because of the scheming cake she buys the Turks’, accompanied by a few sick emojis.
The former nurse and mother of one, who works for a UK-based market research firm, started dating Imam Sakaroğlu, 36, two years ago.
Over the past six weeks, the couple has been horribly censored on a Facebook group, which we are not naming.
The imam, who runs the popular Salt N Pepper bar, had “several one-night stands” with the British woman he believes was behind the posts.
Cheryl says: “It makes me angry because how dare he talk about me like that. She doesn’t even know me, it’s pure jealousy.
“I asked her to text me if she wanted to talk to me like an adult, instead of writing there. She replied: ‘How dare you enter my inbox, you slag’.”
False accusations include Cheryl being “addicted” to Imam, paying him for sex and sleeping ‘with the whole of Marmaris’.
But if Cheryl thought things couldn’t get any worse, she was wrong. “They put up a picture of me, my daughter and my mom saying that we are driving old grandmothers through our Turkish lovers,” she explains.
“It’s one thing to troll me, but leave my daughter and my mom out of it. How sick do you have to be to do that?”
The imam said: “It is a big problem. She is jealous and wants to cause trouble and drama.
“And you can’t stop her. She’s going crazy.”
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Cheryl Farnan-Jones says she was stalked online for her relationship with Imam SakaroğluCredit: Olivia West
The couple contacted Facebook in an attempt to get the woman to stop.
Cheryl added: “Despite her best efforts to tear us apart, the abuse actually made us stronger. But I think the page should be closed. It destroys lives.”
Outside the Tigers Tavern — often mentioned in the Facebook group for its notorious “Tiger Boys” workers — I meet the owner, Mehmet Can Korkmaz, 27, and ask if he’s familiar with the group and its heartbreaking staff.
He says with a laugh: “When people come here we are nice to them, we give them attention, when they want something more we say ‘No, we have a girlfriend’.”
“Some women take it well and say OK, and others will try to make you leave (your girlfriend).”
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Lauren, 27, is the girlfriend of Tigers Tavern owner Mehmet Can Korkmaz Credit: Olivia West
He took to the page and added: “I know who is sharing my picture in the group, it’s not an English girl, it’s a Turkish girl who is bitter about my relationship with Lauren (Harvey, his British girlfriend).
“British women really like Turkish men. That’s why we have male dancers and staff here. If we had more male customers, we would also have female staff.
“If women choose to sleep with our bartenders, that’s their business.
“We can’t control it. Some of these relationships turn into long-term relationships, while others don’t and end up being labeled as love rats.
“But look at us, we’re one of the most popular bars on the strip. If people didn’t like what we offer, we wouldn’t be so busy.”
I just went through a terrible breakup and went on vacation with my family
Ruby, 32
Lauren, 27, a nursery worker from Leeds, added of the social media group: “It’s embarrassing, there are a lot of jealous women out there who can’t deal with rejection. Mehmet has a very caring heart and he doesn’t deserve this.”
I ask Mehmet why Turks are so attractive to British women. With a cheeky grin, he replies, “Because we look good and we’re good in bed.”
Marmaris is a sun-drenched resort that is sometimes called “the land of liars”.
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Dancers at Salt N Pepper bar turn up the heat in Marmaris for visiting women Credit: Olivia West
The night is in full swing at Salt N Pepper Bar. “Sex, sex, sex on the beach!” music blares as a group of topless dancers take off their leather belts and begin shoving them between their legs.
At home, you’d shell out a fortune for a Dreamboys performance to witness this level of action. It’s part of the night’s entertainment here.
Nearby, a couple consisting of an English woman and a Turkish man are celebrating their engagement.
“She is 50 and he is 23,” Imam explains with a smile. “They met two weeks ago and she bought him an iPhone, they used Google Translate to express their desire to have sex together.”
Sophie Smith, 26, a mother of one from Newcastle, goes to Marmaris four times a year.
With happy hour cocktails starting at £5 each, it’s often cheaper to get drunk than to get laid.
She says that hotels “forbid” British women from taking Turkish women back to their rooms.
“Hotel managers are sick of it,” she explains. “They employ security guards to prevent that. I was dating a 22-year-old Turkish guy and I went back to his apartment and a video of a 60-year-old grandmother called him on Zoom.
“He told me to shut up and said he was ‘working with her’, a term meaning he was going to extort money from her in a love scam.”
Sophie explains how she told him it was “wrong” but he became aggressive – so she ended it.
“The other guy was asking £150 for a cuddle,” she continued. “I laughed and said I can get a free hug from anyone I want, I don’t have to pay for it.”
Ruby Oruc (32) from Plymouth, the head receptionist at a vet, met her husband Furkan (26) on holiday two years ago.
“I just went through a terrible breakup and went on vacation with my family,” Ruby explains. “I never thought I would meet the love of my life.
“We had to communicate through Google Translate when we first met, but despite not speaking each other’s language, we had a connection.”
‘The Real Thing’
The couple had been in a long-distance relationship for about a year before Furkan popped the question.
“When I told my family we were getting married, they weren’t happy,” Ruby recalls. “They said, ‘Don’t be so stupid, let it go now.’ Dad told me he just wanted me for the visa.
“But now they know we’re the real deal and they’re happy for us. But unfortunately relationships between Turkish women and British women have a bad reputation because of the stereotype that older women give them money.
“My husband gets messages from older women offering to pay him a year’s rent in advance. I know of a lot of horror stories where women remortgaged their houses and bought businesses for their Turkish boy toy, put it in their name and lost everything.”
Ruby explains that many of these women are in their 60s and 70s, attracted to younger men who are often only interested in financial gain.
“It gives British women a bad name, but we’re not all like that,” she continues.
“My relationship with Furkan is sincere, and I know 12 other young British women in successful relationships with Turks.
“Don’t get me wrong, men have a lot to answer for, but these women have to be smart too.”
In a busy bar, an elderly man sleeps in his chair, exhausted from a day of full sun and high spirits.
His elderly wife, meanwhile, flirts with a young waiter. She leans down, whispers something suggestive in his ear and squeezes his bottom.
A mischievous grin appears on his face as they both move towards the toilets.
As one easyJet flight takes off, another lands, and a neon sign in the bar flashes: “Catch flights, not feelings.”
Good advice for a place like this.
The Sun has contacted Facebook for a response.
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Ruby Oruc, 32, met her husband Furkan on holiday two years ago Credit: Olivia West
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Cheryl Farnan-Jones dances with her partner Imam at Salt N Pepper Bar Credit: Olivia West
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education