A VIEW AT TURKEY'S ECOCIDES FROM THE LENSE OF DEMOCRACY

İbrahim GÜNDÜZ, Journalist and Writer

For about five years, I have been focusing on looting mining, wild mining and colonial mining. I can say that this is the file I have worked on the longest and most extensively as a journalist. Because this mining causes Turkey’s most valuable natural habitats to disappear forever. I would like to start my speech with the story of Easter Island.

EASTER ISLAND

Some of you may be familiar with the story of Easter Island, which fascinated me in the book “Collapse. How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed” by American scientist Jared Diamond. Because there is a common destiny between Easter Island, right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and Turkey, tens of thousands of kilometers away. More precisely, I feel the need to tell this story so that Turkey's fate does not resemble that of Easter Island.

The island was given this name because Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen landed on the island on Easter, April 5, 1722. Roggeveen was astonished as soon as he stepped on the island. Because he saw huge stone statues of 9 to 15 meters high all over this desolated and barren island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

For decades, these stone statues on Easter Island remained a mystery. How could these huge statues have been moved from one place to another on this barren island, without wheeled vehicles or large ropes? And where did the people who built these statues come from? Because the nearest Chilean coast is 3,700 kilometers to the east, and the nearest Polynesian island is 2,000 kilometers to the west. However, after long efforts and research of scientists, Easter Island has emerged as a striking example of the destructive effects of human beings on the world. How?

THE WORLD’S LARGEST PALM TREES

Around 900 CE, the Polynesians, who lived on a cluster of islands around New Zealand, were the first people to settle on Easter Island. In other words, they traveled 2-3 thousand kilometers across the Pacific Ocean in their primitive canoes made ofpalm trees and landed on Easter Island. The Easter Island they set foot on was covered with the largest palm trees in the world, reaching 30 meters in height. It would be an understatement to even call the island, which is 13 kilometers from one end to the other, home to hundreds of bird species and teeming with fish, as paradise on earth.

People who settled on Easter Island began to use resources uncontrollably, as they always had. In accordance with the cultural and religious beliefs they brought with them to the island, they built huge statues called “Moai”. A volcanic quarry on the island also provided a favorable environment for making these statutes.The rapidly multiplying people started to cut down forests unconsciously to build houses, cook food, heat and make canoes, also began to cut down trees to carry these statues. Just as Mehmet the Conqueror moved his ships on sledges, the inhabitants of Easter Island moved the statues on planks they made from trees they cut down.

First they started killing the flightless birds, then the flying birds. After a while, the island was no longer visited by birds. They plundered the fish stocks around the island. In short, by the 1400s, that is, in 500 years, they did not leave a single tree on Easter Island. Eventually, when there was no food to be found on the island and there were no trees left to build the canoes needed or fishing, cannibalism broke out on the island. In summary, the island, which had become a paradise over millions of years, turned into hell within 500 years after humans set foot on it.

MASS MURDER

Look around you. You don't have to go far, look at your country. Don't you see how ruthlessly we destroy natural resources? Which of you can see the forests of your childhood in the Black Sea region? Trees are cut down mercilessly every year. Trees are still being cut down uncontrollably for more luxurious houses, tables, sofas and chairs. In most of our villages, the groves and forests of our childhood are gone. When we were children, the Black Sea was full of anchovies.Trucks full of anchovies would stretch for kilometers in front of anchovy processing facilities in Fatsa. Today, anchovies are almost extinct in the Black Sea. Now we have miners. They commit mass murder. They cut down not just a three or five trees but thousands of trees at the same time, destroying forests and poisoning the soil and the water with cyanide.

They started to pulverize 50 tons of soil and rocks for a ring, and after taking 30 grams of yellow metal from there, they throw it around. So where do you think this is going? How can people not see this? Isn’t it hard to believe? I am sure you were all wondering “How can these people be so stupid?” while I was telling you about Easter Island. Now I ask you, how can we be so stupid? How can we remain unresponsive while our agricultural lands, forests and waters are being destroyed in front of our eyes? Whatever you are experiencing today, the people living on Easter Island also experienced the same thing. “Nothing will happen”they said.“Isn’t it a tree? Its roots are here and it will grow.”they said, “Our state leaders protect us, they will not allow anything that harms us.” As we say today.

Now I would like to show you a few photos that describe the unique natural beauties of Turkey. Then, I will show photos that show how these natural beauties and habitats have been destroyed and massacred. These are the images you will often see today when traveling anywhere in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions of Turkey for vacation, passing through Burdur, Afyon, Denizli and Muğla: Forests cut down, mountains torn to pieces and lands carved like pumpkins.

EKO EKOEKO

The images on the screens in the hall during my speech belong to the EKO EKOEKO documentary. Thesix-episode documentary EKO EKOEKO was prepared by Dr. İlkayNişancıfrom Istanbul University Faculty of Communication and friends in over 5 years. If you want to understand the looting and plundering system and colonial mining called mining in Turkey, watch all six episodes of the EKO EKOEKO documentary.

Today, 74 percent of Ordu has been declared a mining region. We learned this through a very valuable study by TEMA. I would like to thank all TEMA volunteers, especially Mrs. Deniz Ataç. With this statistical study, we understood what kind of danger we are facing. Can you imagine, 74 percent of green Ordu, covered with forests, hazelnut groves and meanders, has been declared a mining region. Today, a cyanide gold mine in Fatsa has been operating for 8 years. Our friends who have been fighting relentlessly against cyanide gold mines have prepared reports to explain what this means and what kind of damage it causes. In other words, they revealed the poisons and damages of the mine in Fatsa with scientific reports. Thanks to the struggles of Mr. Zeki Odabaşı, the President of the Fatsa Nature and Environment Association, in the audience here, right next to him, Mr. Alaattin Yılmazer, the Energy Engineer who sparked the first sparks of this struggle, and Mr. Ertuğrul Gazi Gönül, the President of the Ordu Nature and Environment Association,one of my fellow panelists here at the podium, and thanks to the struggles of their friends.Those who try to turn Ordu into a mining region cannot easily take the steps they want. So the field is not empty, but the struggle is not over either.

“YOU ARE TRYING IN VAIN”

I would like to tell you an anecdote from my book “Altın Ölüm” (Golden Death): A high-ranking local administration chief in Fatsa, in other words, a high-rankingstate official, said the following to a lawyer who visited him and who was struggling against the cyanide gold mine:

“The state has declared this region as a mining area. In 20-25 years, this will no longer be a livable place. You are trying in vain...”

In fact, there is nothing wrong or missing in what he said. Because if the miners’ plans are really implemented, no one will be able to live in Fatsain 20-25 years. Undoubtedly, the effects will not only be limited to Fatsa. Judging by the new mining areas announced every six months, Ordu, Perşembe and Ünye are also facing a similar destruction. However, what is wrong is that a person sitting in that position and entrusted with the lives of tens of thousands of people accepts this in advance and does not engage in any struggle. Because for him, Fatsa is one of the many districts where he has served in. So, it is just a “duty” place. He says these sentences so easily, “The state has declared this region as a mining area. In 20-25 years, this will no longer be a livable place.” Actually, what his words mean for us is, “You will no longer be able to live on these lands.” It is as if the occupation forces are at the door. It is as if Fatsa is facing the Mongol invasion of a thousand years ago. This is the feeling of us and millions of citizens like us who are under similar attacks all over Turkey.

KURŞUNÇALI

Today, they aim at doubling or tripling thecyanide gold mine in Fatsa. Kurşunçalı Mountain, which we can call “our Mount Ida”, has been declared a mining zone. They want to open a cyanide gold mine in Kurşunçalı. I just showed you the Perşembe Plateau, one of the world’s rare ecosystems. Meanders flow through its center. It is a lush geography. Now, cyanide gold mine drilling has started right next to the Perşembe Plateau, which is famous for its meanders.

So, I try to explain where we are. Today, licenses have been issued in Korgan, Kumru, Aybastı, Ulubey and Mesudiye. We will drill here, drill there. We will mine gold here; we will mine silver here. So where are those places? Those are the nation’s plateaus, those are the pastures, forests and villages of the nation. Those are the water resources of the nation. Unfortunately, the whole of Turkey faces this situation. Almost all of Turkey’s mountains, forests, plateaus and pastures are under attack today.

If we go back to Easter Island, how can we be so stupid? Unfortunately, it happens. I want to say that those who govern countries and states can make mistakes. No matter which country. The history of the world and of Türkiye is full of painful examples of this. However, it is not possible for us to accept these decisions. But for this, our people need to know what they are facing. This is what Itry to do as a journalist. In other words, I try to explain what kind of danger Turkey is facing in general.

GOLDEN DEATH

If you want to understand what is going on in Turkey in terms of wild mining and colonial mining, be sure to read the books “Altın Ölüm (Golden Death) and “Altın Girdap” (Golden Vortex). One million tons of hazelnuts are produced in the world every year, and 700 thousand tons of these are produced in Turkey. Turkey has MORE THAN 2 BILLION DOLLARS of income from these hazelnuts every year. Only from hazelnuts. Now they have come and established a cyanide gold mine in the middle of such a geography. We can talk about its damages for hours. Destroying forests, tearing apart mountains, poisoning waters, using the world’s most poisonous chemicals, etc. Here we are, we will cut it down, we will tear it apart, we will poison it, but we will restore it and leave. Lie. These are lies.

CYANIDE FLOOD

They were even able to deny the images of floods flowing through the cyanide gold mine in Fatsa. In the images, membranes and pipes used for cyanide leaching were scattered everywhere. They were even able to file criminal and compensation lawsuits against mefor reporting and making news on these images. In other words, while the state should have taken action upon the images of the crime, state institutions made statements such as “Everything is under control, there is no problem.”

They established a cyanide gold mine in the middle of a geography that generates two to two and a half billion dollars of income every year. What does the state gain from this? One million dollars. It is called state contribution. Let us say it is two million dollars, let us say it is five million dollars. Today, they want to open cyanide gold mines in at least 10 different places inOrdu. I told you about Kurşunçalı, Mesudiye, Ulubey, Aybastı... Is there anything that can be explained with reason and logic? So, on the one hand, you jeopardize your income of two to two and a half billion dollars every year, and on the other hand, you cut down your forests, destroy your mountains and poison your waters. Why? One million dollars a year for charity.

ECOCIDE ATTACKS

Turkey has been under a heavy ecocide attack for the last 25 years. Murat Mountain, Kaz (İda) Mountains, Çiçekbaba Mountain (Sandras), BeşParmakMountains (Latmos), Taurus Mountains, Kurşunçalı, Canik Mountains, Munzur Mountains, Madra, Eğrigöz, Kozak Plateau, Çarşamba Plateau... The list goes on and on.

InMuğla-Milas, the region has been turned to the lunar surface to meet the coal needs of the thermal power plant. Villagers have been fighting for Akbelen Forest for months, but thousands more trees were destroyed in front of the eyes of the whole world in a raid carried out by the company with a gendarmerie-police escort.

Murat Mountain, located between Afyonkarahisar, Uşak and Kütahya provinces, is the source of 40 percent of Turkey’s rivers. Murat Mountain is the birthplace of Porsuk, Gediz and Büyük Menderes. It is the main source of hundreds of streams. Today, there are dozens of mining projects related to Murat Mountain. Citizens try to stop this plunder through legal struggles. But state institutions give “approvals” to projects that will tear Murat Mountain into pieces.

The world is no longer talking about the Global Climate Crisis but about the Global Climate Disaster. The most valuable things on earth are no longer yellow metal, but yellow ears of grain. You cannot destroy the olive groves, which are the source of olive oil, which has reached 5 thousand dollars per ton, just because you will export marble, which costs 500 dollars per ton today.

The forest allocations made solely for mining in the last 10 years are more than the forests that burned in 20 years. While 95 thousand 905 hectares (959.050 acres: 137 thousand 7 football fields) of forest were lost in the fires that broke out duringthe 20 years between 2002 and 2022, the amount of forest land allocated only for mining permits in the 10 years between 2012 and 2022 was 109.884 hectares (1.098.840 acres: 156 thousand 977 football fields).

Şanlıurfa-Göbeklitepe,Diyarbakır-Çayönü, Northern Mesopotamia-Halaf, Southern Mesopotamia-Ubaid cultures; Aplahan, Mitanni, Achaemenid, Macedonian, Seleucid, Uruks, Hittites, Lydians, Persians, Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Urartians, Romans, Umayyads, Abbasids, Seljuks, Ottomans drank water from Kızılırmak, Euphrates and Tigris. Many ruins of these civilizations were flooded. Anatolian Geography, where the first agriculture, the first cities and the first empires were established, cannot be abandoned to wild mining practices.

THEY REGRET IT VERY MUCH

Now let us come to the democracy dimension. I will tell an anecdote and link it there,

The Czech Republic, Germany and Hungary are the first European Union countries to ban cyanide gold production. The European Parliament, consisting of representatives of EU member states, passed a decision in May 2010 calling for a ban on cyanide gold mining on EU territory.

While this is the situation in Europe and the Europeans do not easily allow such plunder and plundering of mines in their own lands because the costs are much higher than the returns, they give different advice to their friends in Turkey. How do we learn this? From İsmet Kasapoğlu, President of the Turkish Mining Council of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).

Kasapoğlu stated that they were given advice from their colleagues in the EU and said, “Whatever you do, reveal your mining assets until the moment you become a full member of the EU... Otherwise, you will have difficulty in utilizing them when you become a member of the EU.” “We did not give this warning to Spain and Greece, we regret it very much today,” they said.

Why, because democracy works with its rules. Why, because there is free media. Why, because there are institutions…

If you are a democratic country. So, if you are in a country where the constitution, laws and the state of law prevail, where free journalism is practiced, and you have independent courts, you can overcome all these negativities... I am not saying it is easy, but you can... It means you have a ground to struggle...

In short, we have to fight. As in the whole world, authorities may make mistakes from time to time, but we have to protect our lands and living spaces.

RESOURCES:

• Atabey, Eşref: Fırat Karasu Havzasında, Küresel Bir Çevre Felaketine Doğru (Towards a Global Environmental Disaster in the Fırat Karasu Basin), BGH, 21 August 2023, www.bodrumguncelhaber.com
• Diamond, Jared: Collapse. How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Pegasus Publications, 2019
• Gündüz, İbrahim: (Altın Ölüm), Third Edition, Galeati Publications, 2022
• Kasapoğlu, İsmet: AB'ye Girmeden Türkiye'deki Altın Varlıkları Çıkarılmalı (Gold Assets in Turkey Should Be Extracted Before Entering the EU), Hürriyet, 29 March 2008, www.hurriyet.com.tr
• Nişancı, İlkay: EKO EKO EKO, Belgesel, Blutv, 2023
• Yavuz, Yusuf: Ormanlarda Görülmeyen Yangın (The Unseen Fire in the Forests), 30 July 2022, yusufyavuzhaber2022.wordpress.com