MUĞLA - Stating that the pressure to open a coal mine in the Akbelen Forest increased after the election, Lawyer İsmail Hakkı Atal said: "We would file a complaint against the prosecutors who overlooked the company's activities against the regulations."
The resistance of the people of the region against the coal mine that is wanted to be opened by Yeniköy-Kemerköy (YK) Energy in the Akbelen Forest in the Milas district of Muğla has been continuing for 2 years. Although the company tried to enter the region from time to time by force of the gendarmerie, it backed down in the face of resistance. Established in partnership with Limak and İçtaş companies, which are known for their closeness to the AKP government and won many tenders during this period, YK Energy operates the coal mines spread over hectares of land, as well as the Yeniköy and Kemerköy thermal power plants in the region.
After the second round of the Presidential elections, which took place on May 28, the company officials, who increased their harassment to the region, began to make frequent discoveries. Finally, the Gendarmerie and Forestry Directorate employees who came to the region on the evening of June 4, determined the coordinates for the tents and containers set up by the villagers for guard duty. Stating that the container in the area was located in the forest area, the officials said that they would notify the municipality.
We talked with ecologist İsmail Hakkı Atal, who is the lawyer of the people of İkizköy, about the increasing pressure after the election and the struggle against the coal mine.
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO RESIST
Stating that they filed two lawsuits against the mine for the cancellation of the cutting permit of the Akbelen Forest and the cancellation of the expansion of the mine site, Atal said: "Although there were 'suspension of execution' decisions in both files, these decisions were lifted through expert committees. There is currently no "suspension of execution" decision that will prevent the company from entering the forest but we have the constitutional, legal and legitimate right of resistance to prevent the company from entering the forest. That's what's keeping the company from getting in here. We will use this right to the end."
'LAWS ARE VIOLATED'
Reminding that they had filed a complaint demanding the dismissal of the Administrative Court judges, who had previously lifted the "suspension of execution" decision, Atal continued as follows: “We will probably have to make the same complaints about the Milas prosecutors. The Olive Law is clearly violated here. While the miners should not come closer than 3 kilometers to the olive groves in the Akbelen Forest, they continue to extract coal 50 meters from the olive grove. Despite many complaints, prosecutors do not apply the law against Limak and commit a constitutional crime by violating Article 10 of the Constitution."
POST-ELECTION THREATS
Reminding that they made an intense call for support to the Akbelen resistance after the election, Atal said: "The company that operates the mine here is the Limak company, one of the five gangs close to the government. Company officials began to say, 'If the AKP wins the election, we will enter the forest the next day, we will cut it.' We have called on all environmental and ecology organizations to exercise our constitutional right to resistance. Maybe they just said it to scare the villagers. But we are ready to resist."
‘THE STRENGTH OF THE RESISTANCE IS MEASURED’
Noting that these discourses have tangible results, Atal said: "After the election, company employees started to come to the forest more. The guard area is constantly checked. They check how many people are in the guard area and who came. They measure the strength of resistance. They also drilled in several places in the forest. They are conducting preliminary archaeological excavations in an area adjacent to the Akbelen Forest and the coal field."
ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION POLICIES
Stating that for us, AKP rule means environmental destruction policies, Atal said: "The number of mining licenses issued in Turkey between 1923 and 2002 during the Republican period is 7 thousand. The application of wild capitalism became free with the AKP. Mining and forestry law was amended and 170,000 mining licenses were issued in 20 years. The basic economic and political policy of the AKP was founded on concrete rent, thermal power plants, feeding the fossil fuel industry, ending agriculture and ecology, evacuating the countryside and enslaving people. But injustice and lawlessness never last forever. Surely this will come back. When this period returns, we will build a democratic, lawful, new judicial system on top of the troubles we have experienced so far."
ECOLOGICAL REVOLUTION FOR LIFE
Emphasizing that the climate crisis now threatens life, Atal said: "According to the Climate Disasters Statistics of the General Directorate of Meteorology; while there were 679 climate disasters between 1980-89 in Turkey, there were 876 climate disasters in 2018 alone. Thermal power plants, mines and forest cuts endanger human life. According to the official statistics of the Ministry of Health between 2002 and 2016, cancer cases have increased 12 times in men and 7 times in women because gold mines have been poisoning the Euphrates in Erzincan İliç, the whole Black Sea in Fatsa, the Aegean region in Uşak, and the drinking water basin of the people of İzmir in İzmir Efemçukuru for decades; therefore, we need an ecological revolution and managers who understand ecology so that we can live.”
'THE FUTURE OF THE PEOPLES IS IN DANGER'
Underlining that the struggle is now a struggle for life and existence, Atal continued his words as follows: “As long as we protect clean water, soil and air, we will have the power to solve everything else. But without these, you can't solve anything. The organized ignorance we face today endangers the future of the peoples of Türkiye. Against this, all our people need to be organized. As a Native American proverb says, 'Rain falls on everyone'. Toxic soil, air and water rain down on all peoples. But it's not raining in the capital. They live in their own glass mansions, they bring their water and food from special places. So this is our real struggle.”
MA / Tolga Güney