Celal Kilic: "Religious tourism is developing in Turkey"

In the studio of VK we have the advisor on Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey's Embassy in Moscow, Celal Kilic. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to come and visit us. Russia and Turkey are connected by a centuries-old relationship. There were different periods in our history. Currently, we are witnesses to the most productive period. In your opinion, what sectors and spheres of our cooperation are developing now in the best way? Celal Kilic, Advisor on Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey's Embassy in Moscow I believe that today some of the most dynamically developing relations between Russia and Turkey are in the tourism sphere, because, as you know, about 4 million Russian tourists prefer to visit our country. In second place, of course, there are trade relations, because annual trade turnover between our two countries is about 8 billion. I think in the future these two sectors will develop rapidly. Of course, I think that, in the field of tourism, relations will develop more actively. The same can be said of the trade relations between the two countries, because that is textiles, food and agricultural products. I think that this will increase annually. What can Turkey offer, in addition to the traditional beach holiday? As the climate in Russia is cold, in the first place preference is given to sun and sea. We offer Russian tourists, in addition to beach holidays, cultural and historical holidays. After all, as you know, the history of Turkey is more than 5 thousand years old and it is very rich and has a great legacy. Turkey was inhabited by peoples of different faiths - Christians, Jews, Muslims. This is a country which was ruled by three great emperors. Turkey has a great cultural heritage. Maybe, of course, the culture of our countries is somewhat similar, but the legacy that is left and is located on the territory of modern Turkey, I think, will be very interesting for Russians. Yes, religious tourism is a strongly developing area. More and more people prefer to relax that way. Are there any figures related to it? Today, I can say there's about a hundred thousand people who visit our country for the purpose of religious tourism. This figure could be higher, because we are only talking about people who come for religious tourism, visiting holy places. But there are tourists who combine beach holidays with religious tourism. This is the number of tourists I did not mention in this figure. Few can offer the travel services and variety of services offered by Turkey. A small example: a tourist visits Antalya in May or at the end of April. He can take a dip in the sea, and over 100 - 200 meters, he may at the same time ski down from the mountains. Mountain tourism is fairly well developed. For every taste, for every desire we are able to offer the kind of tourism that tourists need. In the end, what fate awaits Hagia Sophia? Will it become a museum or a mosque? That, of course, is a big political issue. I may not be competent to answer it. As is known, at one time there was the church of Hagia Sophia. Then it became a mosque. At the moment, it operates as a museum. I think that a visit to this place will be interesting to people of different religions, because it is a monument of architecture and history, which will live for many years. Hagia Sophia is important for both the Christian and the Muslim world. This is my personal opinion: I think it will continue to function as a museum, and it will benefit many people, because then it will be visited by people of different religions. Speaking of enjoyable sides, it is impossible not to touch upon quite unpleasant moments. This year, in past years, in particular, there was information about the poisoning of tourists. How does the Turkish state monitor the quality of hotels, food, and other things that accompany tourists on a trip? Every year our country hosts about 35 million foreign tourists, and among them there are about 4 million Russians. These concepts are a little bit different: if there is a viral poisoning, of course, we recognize the fact of poisoning. But there are times when we are talking about indigestion. We do not accept this. Here is one small example: imagine a hotel where 1200 tourists are staying at the same time. Among such a large number of tourists 15 people go to a clinic with a kind of malaise, get some first aid, treatment, and return to continue their holiday. For us, this is an absolutely normal, standard situation, because, of course, if someone from 1200 adapts quickly, and for someone it is difficult, of course, cases of indigestion may occur. In response to your question about how the state monitors this I'll say that the state is constantly monitoring the hotels. Water and food samples are taken daily, and these samples are stored up to a week. Such cases of later adapting of the body of certain tourists take place not only in Turkey but also in many countries of the world - in Italy, Spain, America and Russia as well. In addition, sanitary epidemic stations are also tough on the hygiene of the hotel. The hotel owner, who makes his business .... Who wants to have cases of any disease and suffer? He is the owner of the hotel, and he will suffer and may even go bankrupt. No one wants that. In this regard, continuous monitoring is carried out. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism monitors resorts. Specific instructions are annually sent to the resort towns to monitor the safety of tourists, food hygiene, etc. If, say, the guests of the hotel owner are unfairly treated, their guests, first of all, he is damaging himself. In cases of bad treatment the tourists have a hot line 179. This hotline is available 24 hours a day. There are Russian-speaking staff. Therefore, Russian tourists are able to make their complaints or claims. If any violations are found, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism may send a warning, impose a fine or - the toughest sanction - deprive the owner of his license. And how can a tourist call this number? Should he just dial three numbers - 179? Yeah, just 179. This is a hotline. In addition, in case of any violations, you can write on the website of our representative office in Russia. You can write on the ministry's website, and you can also write to the travel agent who sold the voucher and you will immediately feel that the ministry is working quickly on each complaint.