The Blue Flag is one of the world's most recognised voluntary awards for beaches, marinas, and sustainable tourism boats. This title is given mostly to beaches in Europe that are clean and safe, which adhere to a set of particular standards. The certification is given by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). In order to qualify for the Blue Flag award, a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety, and accessibility criterias must be met and maintained by the member, such as having healthy swimming water and equipped beach, and running good environmental management and environmental awareness-raising activities.
Countries implementing the Blue Flag program are: Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, Croatia, Mexico, Montenegro, Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Serbia, Lithuania, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Iceland, Morocco, Israel, Jordan, Ukraine, Russia, Canada, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Sant Maarten, Virgin Islands, Porto Rico, South Africa, Japan, New Zealand. Each national FEE member is responsible for the implementation of program in their respective country; in Turkey it is the TURCEV (Foundation for Environmental Education in Turkey).
As of May 2023, in Turkey there are 551 Blue Flag beaches, 23 Blue Flag marinas, 10 Blue Flag yachts, 14 Blue Flag Tourism boats.