Gemlik District to be Moved to Olive Grove Area Due to Statutory Decree

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The reorganization of Bursa's Gemlik district, which has been discussed since 2013, has been ordered through article 13 of the Statutory Decree No. 696, which was published in the Official Gazette on December 24, 2017.

It is now on the agenda to move Gemlik, one of Turkey's most important olive production regions, to higher ground due to earthquake risk. However, moving the Gemlik region to areas that were determined to be olive grove regions is prohibited through the Olive Conservation Law.

With this decision, Bursa's Gemlik district center, which has a population of 107,000, will be moved due to the earthquake risk. Within this context, a region to be determined by the Council of Ministers will be moved outside the forest and will be assigned to the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning. The Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning will also be responsible for the transportation and re-settlement.

CHP MP: This statutory decree is the death of olive groves

Republican People's Party (CHP) Bursa MP Dr. Ceyhun İrgil, speaking on the topic of the regulation, said:

"You can expand the area of Gemlik through construction but you cannot prevent the acquisition of income from the destruction of the olives. This Gemlik Statutory Decree is the death of these olive groves. As a matter of fact, there is no government that can control the construction of buildings and stop unearned construction income through Statutory Decrees. On the contrary, there is a cooperative in Gemlik for construction, development and new construction zones.

"I ask the ones who say they issued the Statutory Decrees to fight against terrorism: What does the Gemlik Statutory Decree have to do with fighting terrorism?

"The ones who did not courageously discuss the Olive Law in the parliament, and who were scared of the reaction from the public, used the simplicity of statutory decree laws to open Gemlik to unearned and unethical income. Could the public in Gemlik not make its own decision about its growth and development? Gemlik can get more construction and buildings, but if the olive groves and natural beauty disappears, who will live in Gemlik? Who will live in the buildings that you have made? If there are no olives, nature and beauty in Gemlik, there is also no future, only an ordinary town.

"You can make Gemlik bigger, but you are not developing Gemlik."

(PT/DG/LN)