ECO-TURKEYNEWS FROM THE STRUGGLE FOR A SUSTAINABLE LIVINGBulletin of Yeşil Ev, Component of Ekoloji Birliği of Turkey |
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Issue 1 Aug. 2024 |
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Life defender murderedOn September 3, a company with a blind lust for profit aimed to massacre trees in a 17-hectare forest area in Artvin's Hopa district. In the face of the resistance of the villagers defending their forests, the company's hitman opened fire on them. Reşit Kibar, who was shot, lost his life. Two people were seriously injured. Hearing this, the people immediately gathered in the Hopa district center and held a massfull protest march. Protests against this heinous murder are spreading all over the country. On September 4, the funeral of Resit Kibar turned into a demonstration against the enemies of life and nature with the participation of hundreds of people. In many provinces of Turkey, organizations and movements for the defense of life are holding protest marches. As far as we can access, thousands of people are currently (this is, the evening of September 4) marching in protest rallies in İstanbul, İzmir, Trabzon, Antalya and Muğla.
From the Statement of ekoloji BirliğiTHOSE WHO MURDERED THE FORESTS ALSO MURDERED REŞİT KİBAR! With the opening of the Cankurtaran Tunnel between Hopa and Borçka in Artvin, it was expected that the remaining 17 hectares of forest area would be turned into a Protected Area or National Park. However, the area was put out to tender to be left to a private company with the 'Tourism Area Complex' project. In July 2024, locals spoke out against it. Yunus Merttürk won the project at the Cankurtaran location with a rather personalized tender. Merttürk, the owner of Yapısoy Limited Company, is a person known for his closeness to the political power, who grew up thanks to his relations with the government and became rich rapidly in a short time. Artvin Forest Directorate was also complained by the villagers due to its suspicious relations with this company. The villagers, who are in favor of preserving this forest area in its natural state, were against the cutting down of trees in this area from the beginning. They continued to fight against corporations in their villages and neighborhoods. Reşit Kibar, one of these villagers, was shot and killed yesterday by a subcontractor of a company that became a gang in the area opened by the political power, because he did not give up the struggle and protected his forest.
The villagers had repeatedly filed criminal complaints against the company and the hitmen hired by the company, and in the meantime, they had also filed a complaint with the Presidential Communication Center. One of the names against whom a criminal complaint was filed was Muhammed Ustabaş, a former headman candidate. According to the news, this person is the person who acted as the hitman of the company. He attacked the villagers who prevented the diggers brought to the area for the tree cutting in question, opened fire on them, and caused the death of Reşit Kibar and the wounding of Ersan and Gökhan Koyuncu. Local people in Hopa - Artvin, who defend the right of the nature and do not leave natural areas to the initiative of companies, were attacked with guns because they defended their forests and trees. This murder is a result of the political power giving up forest areas all over the country to companies, disregarding the public, and establishing profit partnerships with companies... We, as ekoloji Birliği, where ecology movements all over the country come together, want the murder suspect to receive the punishment he deserves as soon as possible, and we announce that we will follow this process... We will continue to defend our lands, forests, mountains and trees one by one, in the fields, on guard duty and in lawsuits. We will keep alive Reşit Kibar's struggle and the Forest in Cankurtaran location, which he did not allow to be cut down at the cost of his life! FORESTS AND RIVERS ARE NO ONE'S PROPERTY! Ekoloji Birliği |
