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Foreign residents in Didim are to see their water bills revert back to Turkish after the council was threatened with court action.

Didim Mayor Mümin Kamacı said the practice had been abandoned due to legal reasons.

It follows a warning letter from the Turkish Language Foundation (TDK) to the Didim Municipality stating the initiative was unconstitutional.

The association strongly requested the practice be ended or face court action.

Kamacı said, in defense of the municipality’s now-changed practice: “We weren’t doing it to destroy our language, only to prevent problems in getting the bills worked out.”

Mayor Kamacı noted that following the legalization of land sales to foreigners, many British citizens bought homes in and around Didim.

While many of Didim’s foreign residents come only for the summer season, Kamacı noted language difficulties on both sides had caused a huge loss of time in paying bills to the municipality.

The realization that a huge amount of time was being spent just trying to explain to English-speaking home owners where and how they could pay their bills had led to the Didim Municipality’s use of English-language water bills, says Kamacı.

Noting that the system had been well-received by the foreign residents, Kamacı said: “In Didim, for about two years, we had English-language water bills. There was never any aim to destroy our language or somehow dirty it. In my own life I prefer to use real Turkish words.

Source: voices