Gür said he went to start the membership process by formally accepting their application and meet with the people behind the application.

He was met at Patmos by the island’s mayor, the chairman of the hoteliers’ union, and local journalists.

At the meeting, Patmos Mayor Kabassos Grigorious said he would be very happy to find friendship and a common cause with their neighbor from Bodrum and expressed Patmos’ desire to be admitted for membership. “Gür’s support on the issue will strengthen our good relations with Bodrum and around the Aegean shores.”

During his visit, Gür stated he was impressed by Patmos’s beauty, saying: “It is working in line with the principles of UNESCO to promote cultural diversity by preserving culture and history, and to receive such a membership application is a very pleasing event. From Bodrum’s point of view it is even more pleasing that it comes from our own neighbor and that there will be a member from Greece. The strengthening of our mutual bonds is essential.”

On his return to Bodrum, Gür further said the history, natural beauty, climate, isolation and protection of the island’s assets were all part of Patmos’s attractions.

When asked how the Patmos authorities became aware of the association, he said it had come through a chance meeting in Bodrum with a hotelier from Kos, Bodrum’s nearest Greek neighbor, and a discussion of Gür’s involvement with the international association. That hotelier later suggested to the Patmos municipality that it join the association.

The island of Patmos, though small with a permanent population of only 3,000, is connected to the outside by frequent ferries and ships that bring tourists from around the world to visit UNESCO designated sites. Of special import on the island are monasteries and the Cave of the Apocalypse, which is connected with the apostle, St. John the Theologian. St. John is also associated with the nearby Turkish mainland site of Ephesus.

Bodrum Peninsula’s Chamber of Commerce has been working for some time on setting up direct summer ferry or hydrofoil connections with northern Dodecanese island neighbors such as Patmos and Samos.

The Most Beautiful Bays in the World is a non-profit organization founded in France in 1996 to bring together the coastal areas of the world suffering from overdevelopment for mutual support at the same time it tries to sustain the area’s original environmental and cultural values.

It hopes to become “the international reference for intelligent management of coastal areas” and includes members from France, Vietnam, Mexico, Ireland, South Africa, Brazil, Cape Verde, Canada, China, Colombia, the United States, Spain, Portugal, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Madagascar, the Philippines and India.

To be included in the list, the bays must meet certain criteria such as subject to safeguards, have a wildlife and a flora interesting, have outstanding natural and attractive, be known and appreciated at the local and national levels, be emblematic for the local population, have some economic potential.

The bay must also possess at least two features recognized by UNESCO in the cultural or natural assets categories.

The final decision regarding membership of the island of Patmos will be given at the next board meeting, which will be held in Vietnam in May.