
Scorching Temps Don't Deter Vacationing Turks
Voice of America
ISTANBUL - Vacationers in Turkey are enduring sizzling heat as millions from Istanbul and elsewhere journey to the southern coast for Kurban Bayram, or feast of the sacrifice, a weeklong Islamic holiday.
Sweltering summers are nothing new for the country, but this year’s exceptionally high temperatures might be. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), a warming global climate has brought Turkey intensely hotter summers and declining precipitation, causing droughts. This week, Turkey’s state meteorological service forecasts a high of 38 degrees Celsius in Marmaris, a popular tourist destination on the southern coast. That’s 8 degrees hotter than the average maximum temperature recorded from 1981 to 2010. The heat does not appear to be sapping Turks’ desire to travel. In fact, many are bound for destinations that are even hotter than the cities in which they reside.
Local officials and navy personnel attend a joint Iranian, Russian and Chinese military drill in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 12, 2025. (Iranian Army Office via AFP) Chinese navy troops attending a joint naval drill with Iran and Russia stand on the deck of their warship in an official arrival ceremony at Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 11, 2025.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves as he arrives for Mauritius' 57th National Day celebrations at the Champ De Mars, Port Louis, Mauritius, March 12, 2025. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and his Mauritius counterpart Navin Ramgoolam pay homage after laying a wreath at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden during his State visit, in Pamplemousses, Mauritius, March 11, 2025. FILE - Sailors walk on the deck of the INS Imphal, a stealth guided-missile destroyer, at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, Dec. 22, 2023.

Police officers guard the Palace of the Republic after Bosnian prosecutors ordered the detention of three top Bosnian Serb officials over a series of separatist actions, in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, 240 kms northwest of Sarajevo, March 12, 2025. FILE - Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik speaks during an interview with the Associated Press, in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, 240 kms northwest of Sarajevo, Dec. 29, 2023.