Geography

Bitez is a town in Bodrum

Bodrum

Bodrum is a port city in Muğla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region of Turkey. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of Gökova. The site was called Halicarnassus of Caria in ancient times and was famous for housing the...

 district of Muğla Province. It is situated in Bodrum Peninsula at 37°02′N 27°23′E. It is almost merged with Bodrum which is just 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of Bitez. It is coastal town and a popular summer resort. The settled population is of Bitez is 7692 as of 2010 . But in summers the population is much higher.

Economy

The climate in Bitez is suitable for all Mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 agricultural crops like olive, citrus, tobacco etc. In the past fishing was also a part of the town economy. But at the present, the main economic activity is tourism. There are many hotels and restautrants in addition to blue flag beaches in Bitez which are mainly active during summers.

Bitez in popular culture

Bitez is famous for a popular song named Çökertme composed in the early years of the 20th century. There are two versions of the event upon which the lyrics refer to. But in both versions, the main theme is the struggle against Regie Company

Regie Company

The Regie Company was a parastatal company formed in the later Ottoman Empire by the Ottoman Public Debt Administration, with backing from a consortium of European banks. The company had a monopoly over tobacco production. Revenue from the Regie Company was supposed to help overcome the Ottoman...

 founded for Ottoman Public Debt Administration

Ottoman Public Debt Administration

The Ottoman Public Debt Administration , was a European-controlled organization that was established in 1881 to collect the payments which the Ottoman Empire owed to European companies in the Ottoman public debt...

 which controlled the tobacco trade in Turkey. The producers had no right to sell their own products. This gave rise to smuggler traffic and the smugglers began smuggling tobacco to Cos

Cos

-Maths, science and technology:* Cosine, a trigonometric function* COS cells, a cell line used by biologists* Carbonyl sulfide, a chemical compound* Class of service , a 3 bit field within a layer two Ethernet frame header defined by IEEE 802.1p...

 island of Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 (the distance to Cos island is only 15 kilometres (9.3 mi)). According to lyrics, Bodrum governor (so called Cicassian governor, Çerkez kaymakam) arrested two smugglers named Halil Efe and İpram Efe in Bitez shore and then executed them without trial. In another version of the story Halil Efe and his sweetheart were trying to escape to Cos island when they were arrested. The governor was furious because he had an eye on Halil’s sweetheart Çakır Gülsüm (Güssüm)