Akbelen resistance step by step:

THIS CASE IS NOT OVER
UNLESS WE SAY IT IS OVER !

Time: October 2019. Location: Aegean region, Muğla province, Milas district, village İkizköy's Karadam neighborhood. Limak Holding, the owner of the thermal power plant and lignite mine in the region, and its minor partner IC Holding sent a "notification" to the residents of the Karadam neighborhood. They demanded that they sell their land to the company.

In the past, neighboring neighborhood residents were also dispossessed with a similar notice. The people of Karadam decided not to bow down, but to resist: Connections were established with the Muğla Environment Platform. Petitions were submitted to the Muğla Metropolitan Municipality, the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and all relevant ministries...

First steps: Our villages are not for sale !

The resistance fighters have a tough job: Limak is one of the five major companies known as the "gang of five." They earned this name by getting rich extraordinarily fast, using extraordinary methods, under the protective umbrella of the political power that represents the interests of big capital.

İkizköy's applications to the courts and bureaucracy almost always yield negative results. In the first weeks, the village's water was cut off as a punishment for the resistance. People are threatened with dismissal from their jobs. The walls of houses are cracking as dynamite is repeatedly detonated in the mines near the village. But the oppression and defeats do not discourage the villagers. The resistance continues, becoming more determined and more organized...

The attack on the forest begins

In April 2021 , the company took advantage of the curfew during the coronavirus pandemic by sending logging crews to the village's Akbelen forest, which was home to rare plants and animals, especially more than 400 red pine trees, whose species are in danger of extinction.

The cutting was prevented by the intervention of the villagers. However, in this context, they also learned that the General Directorate of Forestry had officially handed over 74 hectares of Akbelen Forest land to lignite mining.

In July 2021, the General Directorate of Forestry teams came to cut down trees again. One of the leaders of the resistance, Nejla Işık (who is currently elected as the headwoman of İkizköy), called everyone to help with a short video, crying out in tears. The people of İkizköy stopped the tree cutting once again.

With Necla Işık's historical video,İkizköy's resistance to the forest massacre cost the whole country. Life advocates, ecological organizations and movements, civil society organizations from all over Turkey rushed to show solidarity with the İkizköy resistance. A "conscience watch" was started to be held in the forest day and night.

The years 2021, 2022, 2023 were filled with repeated attacks by the Gendarmerie and tree-cutting teams on the forest, the conscience watch camp, the villagers, the nature defenders, and their lawyers. They cut down trees, beat people, and detained them. Months-long trials were filed against those who defended themselves against the Gendarmerie's beatings, on charges of "obstructing the Gendarmerie from performing its duty", and sentences were given...

İkizköy defends the forest with its young and old

On July 24, 2023, a few days after the Akbelen Resistance celebrated its second anniversary, company teams and gendarmerie units arrived in the region accompanied by TOMAs in the early hours.

Three generations defend  the forest together against  construction equipments

The residents of İkizköy and ecological advocates of all ages from all over Turkey responded to the attack with civil disobedience. They hugged trees. They defended the forest by using their bodies as shields against the work machines.

Gendarmerie teams surrounded the forest so that no one could pass. Activists were removed from the area by force and violence. Many activists were detained. The biggest forest massacre up until that time was carried out in Akbelen. Three-fifths of the forest was cleared of trees.

In September 2023, the gendarmerie evacuated the guard area using force and violence. They set up a barricade at the entrance to the forest and surrounded the guard area. No one from outside was allowed to enter the area. Although the area was a registered property, they dismantled the tents with the lie of "at the request of the owner of the area". The registered owner of the area announced to the public that this was a lie.

They couldn't bring the resistance to heel

İkizköy villagers set up a new guard post. The resistance continues.

On March 3, 2024, Nejla Işık, who became the symbol of the Akbelen resistance, was elected as the headwoman of İkizköy village with a large majority upon the recommendation of the resistance committee.

"We said let our village stay where it is. We said let the oppression of the companies end. We said don't touch my water or my land: The new headwoman of our village is Nejla Işık. We will now manage İkizköy ourselves!"

On March 17, 2024, the people of İkizköy, who continued their resistance against tree cutting without interruption, organized a "big meeting in Akbelen" together with life defenders from all over the country. A march was held on the Milas-Ören road from the new guard area to the guard area that the gendarmerie forcibly removed on September 12. Esra Işık, who spoke at the meeting, said:
"No one has the power to extinguish this fire of resistance.
We will never stop unless you stop:
This case is not over unless we say it is over!"

(Source: Staying silent - For rights defenders)

Philharmonic concert of the forest killers

The attempt of Limak Holding, the perpetrator of the Akbelen forest massacre, to use art as a shield against its own barbarity has been a fiasco.

Limak Holding is known for the Akbelen forest massacre it carried out to expand its coal mine; but it also has a "philharmony orchestra"! The company organized a concert at the Antique Theater in Bodrum on August 26. Just before the concert, the İkizköy Environmental Protection Association made a press statement in front of the theater. Slogans such as "Don’t touch my air, my water, my soil" and "Killer Limak, get out of Akbelen" were chanted. Posters were put up. Informational materials were distributed. The Association President stated the following:

"In July 2023, Limak destroyed the 78-hectare Akbelen Forest, a heritage of humanity, to extract coal. Now, this concert, which is being held as if nothing happened, cannot be kept silent. We are exposing this fraud."

After the press release, the concert started with a half hour delay. Most of the people who came gave up listening to the concert, and the rows of listeners were completely empty.