About Emre
Emre Yılmaz is Zeach's Turkish Coast and Levant Editor, covering Blue Flag beaches along Turkey's 8,000-kilometre coastline and the broader Eastern Mediterranean. Based in Bodrum — itself home to some of Turkey's most consistently certified beaches — he has tracked the Türkiye Blue Flag programme since 2015, when Turkey first entered the global top three by total certified beach count.
Turkey's Blue Flag story is one of dramatic growth. When Emre began researching the programme, Turkey had around 400 certified beaches. That figure has grown to over 600, driven by municipal investment in water treatment infrastructure and competitive pressure from beach operators seeking the certification's commercial value. He covers that growth with an eye for which certifications represent genuine water quality improvement and which reflect infrastructure alone.
The Turkish coastline in detail
Turkey's certified beaches concentrate on three coastal zones. The Aegean coast — from Çanakkale in the north through İzmir, Bodrum, and Marmaris — has the longest certification history and includes some of Turkey's most-visited destinations. The Mediterranean coast (locally called the Turquoise Coast) from Fethiye through Antalya to Mersin is the fastest-growing zone, with new certifications in the Antalya region appearing almost every cycle. The Marmara and Black Sea coasts have a smaller but consistent certified presence.
Emre's pages reflect this geography. He writes about which parts of a beach are actually within the certified zone (large Turkish beaches often have uncertified sections), what the water quality data from the Turkish Ministry of Environment shows in practice, and what seasonal visitors need to know about when flags are flying versus when they are not.
Eastern Mediterranean and Levant coverage
Beyond Turkey, Emre covers the growing Blue Flag presence in the Eastern Mediterranean. Israel has a small but well-maintained certified beach programme along the Tel Aviv and Haifa coastlines. Lebanon's programme has faced disruption but is rebuilding. Egypt's Red Sea and Mediterranean coast certifications are tracked through the regional FEE Middle East office.
Reviewed and edited by
All content by Emre Yılmaz is reviewed by Arjun Nair, Zeach's Coastal Research Editor, before publication.