It's probably a case of once bitten, twice shy, because Nevşehir's was one of a bunch of airports that opened in a blaze of publicity back in 1999, only to fall victim to the last economic crisis. This time around even the travel agents seem to be struggling to rally much enthusiasm. Certainly no one is rushing to visit the airport, which is what we did then.Looking back on it, the Cappadocia of 1999 sometimes seems like a different world entirely. If there's not much in the way of organized entertainment here now, then how much more so was that the case eight years ago. So when the loudspeakers announced that the Belediye was providing buses to take us to see the new airport, I was in the vanguard of those rushing to bag a seat.
What is called Nevşehir Airport is, in fact, in a village called Tuzköy near Gülşehir. This is about as honest as describing Luton Airport as a "London" airport, but never mind about that -- the mere fact that it wasn't actually in Nevşehir meant that we were guaranteed a day out in the countryside. President Demirel was coming to cut the ribbon together with then Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz, which meant that our progress through the country lanes was immensely slowed down by the presence of their military entourage. That was easy enough to understand. What was less comprehensible was that our convoy of buses set off escorted by the Göreme fire engine.
As we neared the airport it became obvious that every village for miles around had had the same idea. Why did we need all these fire engines, I wondered? Surely no one expected the airport to go up in flames on its very first day in business. But as soon as we arrived the reason became obvious. The fire engines had been brought along so that welcoming banners could be suspended from their ladders. Fortunately no blazes broke out in Cappadocia that day because had they done so there would not have been a single tender available to extinguish them.
"Nevşehir" airport opened not long after the Susurluk car crash that thrust the "deep state" onto the political agenda. It also opened just after the arrest of terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan precipitated a rash of threats against tourists. One of Nevşehir's first flights was meant to be delivering the cast for a new James Bond movie. Not surprisingly the flight (and the film) was cancelled and shortly afterwards the airport shut down again.
Since then much has happened on the aviation front. In particular Kayseri Airport (which really is in Kayseri) now offers plentiful flights to İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir. Arguably, it doesn't take much longer to get there than it does to Tuzköy. So this time round we needn't worry too much about unattended conflagrations as the fire engines are staying firmly put.
