Turkish author Orhan Kural is hoping to open his fellow countrymen’s eyes to what Bermuda has to offer as part of his latest travel book.

Mr Kural has travelled the world writing about the culture and attractions of each place he visits and Bermuda will feature as a section in his 17th book on travel.

According to Mr Kural, Turkish people are not particularly familiar with Bermuda and have a misconception that it is not a modern society.

The author, who is also the head of the Mining Engineering Department at the Istanbul Technical University as well as president of the Turkish Travellers Club, said the high profile he enjoys in his native land will help to change that misconception.

He told The Royal Gazette: “Most people I talk to in Turkey only know about the Bermuda triangle — that is all they know, unfortunately. As travellers they don’t come to Bermuda, maybe they came for business. I am here as a traveller and journalist and I want to promote Bermuda in Turkey.

“There is no article in Turkish about Bermuda. It is a mysterious island and Turkey is a big economy now with close to 80 million people and they want to go to different places. They want to search for new things and there are rich people in Turkey. There are Turkish people living in America and I will tell them also to come here.

“I will write about my impressions and what I have seen for Turkish people because Turkish and Americans don’t have the same taste in travelling.

“There is golf here for the rich people and they never imagined Bermuda like this in Turkey — we were expecting a poor country with not many people living here and not much to see. It is not like that. I am a very popular person in Turkey and I am going to prove that there is more to Bermuda.”

Mr Kural was appointed as honorary consul of Benin in Istanbul in 2003, he has written numerous books including one about protecting the environment, and he has appeared on multiple television programmes in Turkey and abroad. He believes in a strong relationship between tourism and the environment and advocates that the more a country loses its environmental resources, traditions and biological richness, the more it loses its tourism potential.

Mr Kural arrived on the island this week and is staying with a Bermudian who has helped him come up with an itinerary.

He has already begun researching the island and plans to visit Fort Hamilton, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, St George’s, Blue Hole Park, Harbour Nights and Dockyard.

“The first article will be written in five days and the book will be published in Turkish in three weeks,” he says.

The book will be published by Han Yayinlari.