Author(s): Ä°brahim GÃKBURUN*
This paper aims to give information about Lake Salda and present a breakdown of the researches about it. Lake Salda is one of
the vital natural resources of our country with its clear and turquoise water. The lake, which has been a place known only by expert
researchers, curious travelers and local people until recently, has been favored to great extent by local and foreign tourists as a tourism
destination. It was declared as a First-Degree Natural Site in 1986 and then Wetland Conservation Zone, a Tourism Center and a Nature
Park, finally declared as a Special Environmental Protection Area in 2019. Following questions were addressed to shed light on the
subject: How are the results of this situation reflected in academic studies? When did the first studies on Lake Salda begin? How did the
researchers manifest the lake in their studies? In this study, a systematic literature review on Lake Salda was compiled in order to
answers such questions. The research data were compiled through document analysis, which is one of the qualitative research methods.
Data compiled with theoretical and methodological approaches were classified into five different categories: article, thesis, book and
book chapter, paper and report. Scientific approaches and contributions of researchers on the lake were analyzed.
As a result, a total of 136 studies consisting of articles, book and book chapters, theses, papers and reports on Lake Salda were
compiled. 46 of these studies were published as articles, 18 as thesis studies, and 32 as papers. 20 reports prepared with different
purposes and scopes regarding the lake by public institutions and non-governmental organizations were also compiled. Additionally, 2
books on the subject of Lake Salda, 6 book chapters and 13 books presenting information on the lake were analyzed. The first studies on
the lake started in 1987 and reached its peak in the period of 2015-2020. It is observed that the interest of researchers as well as tourists
and enthusiasts in Lake Salda is immense. Studies compiled in this study within the scope of the literature provides significant data for
the protection of the natural texture of the Lake Salda basin and prevention of the anthropogenic pressure experienced.
The Journal of International Social Research received 7760 citations as per Google Scholar report
