‘Even birds fall from their nests in trees and die’

* Photo: Eren Dağıstanlı / Twitter

Click to read the article in Turkish

"Our only crime is to defend our nature... Our stream has dried up, it flows very little. Our waters are turbid. Fish are dead, birds are dying from the noise and dust in their nests. We don't want this quarry."

These words belong to Vildan Karafazlıoğlu and Derya Ekşi, women who have resisted for days against nature pillage-themed quarry project of Cengiz Holding in İkizdere in Turkey's Black Sea province of Rize.

According to Karafazlıoğlu and Ekşi, there is a lot of rain in the region today. For this reason, they cannot wait in the field now, but the company continues to work in the presence of the gendarmerie.

Today (May 4), two "high level" visits from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the Rize Provincial Directorate of Environment and Urbanization were made to the villagers in the resistance area. The officer of the Ministry told the villagers, "Nothing is going to happen. The project will not get over the designated area, trust us."

Stating that the villagers left the meeting saying, "You came to deceive us", Derya Ekşi added, "They are making fun of our minds."

'There will be no mad honey, tea production will end'

Vildan Karafazlıoğlu, saying, "Currently, our pine trees and chestnut trees are being destroyed without any justification", has explained why they do not want a quarry for the following reasons:

"We don't want to give this place because this is our village, our living space. Our water, food for our animals, our homes have always been here.

"This means dynamite will be exploded, our homes will be destroyed. Nothing will grow in our gardens, and we will have to breathe those toxic gases. My father is also a beekeeper. Where will the bees feed when the forests disappear? Mad honey (grayanotoxin) is produced here, very famous honey, but it will not be anymore.

"They tell us to raise livestock, but the pastures of our animals will be gone. We will not be able to produce tea because of dust or poison. We do not want a quarry here, but no official will hear us. Even our stream is covered with soil, there will be no trout, this place is made uninhabitable."

'They will force us to migrate'

Derya Ekşi has said that she saw dead birds falling from the trees while going to the region from the forest road this morning and continued as follows: "The animals are dying from that noise, I cannot bear to see them, we do not want this quarry."

Ekşi has stated that the creek has dried up and its waters are blurry, adding that the company threw the trees it cut into the stream to hide it and covered it with soil:

"If the quarry remains here, tea, forestry, beekeeping, water, in other words, nature, will completely disappear in return.

"We are people who earn their living only with tea and honey. Earth-moving trucks will remove thousands of tons of stone a year, and this time our homes will not be visible from dust and smoke.

"The dynamite that will explode will have the risk of destroying our house, and if not, its voice will affect us. They will make us migrate from here by force. But we do not want this and we will resist till the end."

What's happening in İkizdere?

A decision of urgent expropriation was taken in İskencedere Valley in the district with the Presidential decree for the quarry needed to be used in the logistics port construction to be built in the İkizdere, Rize.

Thereupon, the villagers took action and set up a tent at the entrance of the valley, started to keep watch and took the decision to the court. However, Cengiz Holding employees, who would carry out the construction, entered the valley on April 21 and started to work for the stone quarry.

Company employees, who came with the gendarmerie, asked the citizens who set up tents at the entrance of the valley and were on guard to remove their tents. Despite the reactions of the citizens on watch, the tents were lifted and the gendarmerie barricaded the entrance of the valley.

In a short time, the construction machines started to work, and the people of the region flocked to the valley. Citizens said that the authorities of the company working in the valley did not have any permissions and that the work was illegal. The resisting villagers ensured that the construction machinery left the area with their protests.

CLICK - 'Trees uprooted in İkizdere, villagers watch in tears'

Law enforcement fined the villagers for failing to comply with the curfew declared as part of the COVID-19 pandemic measures. The villagers continued to resist despite the fines. On Sunday, April 25, the villagers whose roads were blocked came with trucks from the forest and demanded the cessation of the activity and the withdrawal of the gendarmerie.

The gendarmerie did not withdraw and, as the resistance continued, they intervened with tear gas against the villagers. Several women were injured during the intervention, and the villagers were detained. The villagers, including İkizdere Associations Federation Chair Ziya Yıldırım, were later released. They were also fined due to the 3-day coronavirus lockdown.

Despite the resistance, it was revealed that Cengiz İnşaat applied for a capacity increase on 3 March while the construction was continuing and the 11th Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure gave the company permission to open a new quarry.

A natural archeological site

The quarry that Cengiz Holding wants to open is located in the natural protected area, İkizdere-İşkence Valley. The Valley has been designated as the "New Thermal and Winter Tourism Destination" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In the region, on the other hand, the "exemplary plateau" model will be applied by the Ministry.

Therefore, the region is considered as an exemplary plateau, a natural protected area, and a tourism area. The Anzer Plateau where the famous Anzer honey is produced, Çamlık Promenade, Çağrankaya Plateaus, and Ovit are also located in İkizdere.

The economy of the district is generally based on agriculture. The main agricultural products are tea and potatoes, but small amounts of kiwis, corn, pears, and nuts are also grown. While cattle and sheep are fed with the transhumance method, beekeeping is another source of livelihood.

• Note: Six Hydroelectric Power Plants are operating in İkizdere Valley, one of the 200 protected valleys in the world and will be used by Cengiz İnşaat for the quarry, while two quarries are actively operating.

(TP/DCE/SD)