Trees 'turned gray' because of mining in Kirazlıyayla village

Photos: Yenişehir Environmental Platform / Twitter

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Tree logging has restarted in Kirazlıyayla village in Bursa, northwestern Turkey, for the construction of a zinc, lead and copper enrichment plant and a tailings dam.

Officials from the General Directorate of Forestry cut the registered oak trees around the Kamışlı Pond, which dried out during the mining company's operations.

Speaking to bianet about the latest situation in Kirazlıyayla, attorney Onur Cingil said that the General Directorate of Forestry pressured the villagers to prevent complaints against tree logging: "We can understand that public officials are also turning a blind eye to the company."

Meyra Mining, a Lebanon-based company that has been running lead, zinc and copper mining in the region since 2013, attempted to expand its facility with the enrichment plant and the tailings dam, Cingil noted.

However, villagers and lawyers have resisted the project and taken legal action for the halt of the project and the suspension of activities in the forest area.

An expert witness made examinations in the area as the case for the suspension of execution and the cancellation of the project continues at the Bursa 1st Administrative Court.

According to the report released in early September, the project's Environmental Impact Assessment report was technically inadequate and the project would negatively affect public health, agriculture and livestock if it was implemented.

"The reversed its own verdict"

The court, in accordance with the report, first gave a decision of suspension of execution and reversed the decision one week later, said Cingil.

"Two conditions are sought for a decision of the suspension of execution. The first is a clearly unlawful act, and the second is the emergence of damage that is irreparable or hard to recover from. The court abolished the decision of stay of execution, which it gave in line with the expert report, a week later on the grounds that "both conditions were not met'."

While the locals have appealed the decision, the company has resumed its operations in the construction site.

Currently, there are two ongoing cases against the project at the Bursa 1st Administrative Court and the 3rd Administrative Court and criminal complaints against everyone and every organization involved in the project.

"Villagers couldn't harvest crops this year"

The people of Kirazlıyayla have jointly fought against the project with women being at the forefront. Attorney Cingil says some villagers, who were previously detained, go to the Yenişehir district to give a signature as part of judicial control measures.

"The construction site is at walking distance to the village, it is located near the cemetery next to the village and they also included the cemetery in the environmental impact assessment area. Therefore, villagers were not able to use their roads and visit the cemetery after the construction started," he said.

Because the company closed a wide road that was used by combine harvesters, villagers were not able to harvest their crops, he added.

The dried pond

The environmental impact assessment area also includes the Kamışlı Pond, which was dried by the company, which indicates that the company wants to expand the operation area, according to attorney Cingil.

"We saw that they emptied the water here with pumps just so that people could not irrigate," he said.

"A lot of vehicles were entering and leaving the area for the construction. We saw that the sand and dust created by them changed the color of all the trees in the area, all the trees turned gray as if it had snowed, all of them died," he added.

Why are the locals against the project?

Villagers say that the facility that will be established in a 110-decare area will cause damage to the Yenişehir Plain, İznik Lake and the people living there.

according to the project, the facility will be just 225 meters away from Kirazlıyayla and the tailings dam is in a landslide zone.

The company cut down trees in the area in April and the gendarmerie prevented women who wanted to make a statement against the project. The women were then shortly detained after a complaint by the company. (TP/VK)