Muğla villagers persist in protests against coal mine project in forest despite detentions

Photo: Twitter

Click to read the article in Turkish

Residents of a village in Milas District, located in the southwestern province of Muğla, have been engaged in a two-year-long struggle against the expansion project of a coal mine providing coal to a nearby thermal power plant.

While the situation at the Akbelen forest had been calm for months, in a sudden move early yesterday, the gendarmerie arrived with riot control vehicles and tree cutting operations commenced. Eight individuals were detained and four were injured during the locals' resistance against the operations.

The detained individuals were released in the early hours of the morning, Gazete Duvar reported.

Upon his release and return to the vigil site in Akbelen Forest, Hasan Yorulmaz, a member of the İkizköy Environmental Committee, said, "We are defending our homeland, our land, our crops, and our olive trees. We are trying to protect this forest, which belongs to everyone. There is no other cause."

Lawyer İsmail Hakkı Atal, representing the detained villagers, also arrived at the Akbelen Forest vigil site after their release. He emphasized their right to protect the forest and stated that they believe an injustice has been committed, constituting a "constitutional crime."

Furthermore, companies that have undertaken the mine expansion project have reportedly been searching for workers in tree cutting operations in nearby villages.

A video from yesterday's scuffle between the gendarmerie and villagers:

SON DAKİKA!
Akbelen ormanın daki ağaç kesimini engellemeye çalışan İkizköy'lülere biber gazlı, kalkanlı jandarma müdahalesi oldu. Gözaltılar var. #AkbeleneDokunma pic.twitter.com/EUFqBPJcwo

— Hakan Tosun (@HakanTosunn) July 24, 2023

Protests continue

Following yesterday's incidents, the villagers attempting to reach the protest area inside the forest were again stopped by the gendarmerie.

In the midst of this, women villagers from İkizköy confronted the gendarmerie by blocking the road and not allowing them to pass, while officers unleashed their dogs towards them.

The İkizköy community, through a Twitter account "Akbelen Yuvamız, Vermeyeceğiz" (Akbelen is Our Home, We Won't Give It), reported that the gendarmerie was arbitrarily stationed on their titled farmlands, harassing the villagers:

"The gendarmerie is stationed on our titled farmland right next to our homes, monitoring us, and trying to create pressure.

"Stop harassing our homes, families, and titled lands; you are committing a crime!"

The mine expansion project is intended for the Yeniköy Kemerköy Thermal Power Plant, located in Milas. Back in 2021, YK Energy, the owner of the plant, had obtained the necessary permits to include a 740-acre section of the Akbelen Forest in an open coal mine to provide coal for the plant.

For over two years now, İkizköy village locals have been resisting the project.

"Ağaçlarımız kesiliyor. Biz nereye gideceğiz? Yardım edin dostlar!"

Sesimizi duyun.. pic.twitter.com/bYlz13jlIZ

— Akbelen Yuvamız Vermeyeceğiz (@ikizkoydireniyo) July 25, 2023

(EMK/VK)