Olive groves opened to mining activities ahead of expert examination in Akbelen Forest
* Photo: Twitter - "Defend life, not coal"
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The decision of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources to amend the mining regulation has been published in the Official Gazette.
According to the decision issued yesterday (March 1), in the event that the mining activities to be undertaken to meet the need for electricity coincide with an olive grove and it is not possible to undertake the related activities in other fields, permission may be granted by considering public good so that the part of the olive groves where the mining activities will be undertaken shall be moved, mining activities shall be undertaken in the area and temporary facilities shall be set up for these activities.
The permission to be granted shall stipulate that the person who will engage in the mining activities will undertake that after the related activities end, the area will be rehabilitated and that he or she will allocate an olive grove the same size to the one where the mining activities will be undertaken. The area of the new olive grove will be approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and cultivated in line with the planting norms.
All costs and requests to stem from moving the olive grove will be met by the person who is permitted to undertake the mining activities.
On the day of expert examination
This decision came amid the ongoing legal struggle of the people of İkizköy against the attempts to extend the coal mine in Akbelen Forest to give coal to the two thermal power plants operated by the Yeniköy-Kemerköy Electricity Generation and Trade Inc. (YK Energy) in Muğla's Milas.
In April 2021, in a decision signed by Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli, the company was granted permission for mining activities in Akbelen Forest. The court case filed to have this permission annulled is still ongoing. The expert examination to be undertaken in the site as part of this court case was scheduled for yesterday at 10 in the morning.
The people of İkizköy, in a message on Twitter, have criticized the amendment in the mining regulation and hinted that the regulation has been amended specifically for the YK Energy Company.
While the locals have said, "Olive groves are being opened to mines", the İkizköy Environment Committee has underlined that "there are at least 100-150-decare olive groves inside the area desired to be allocated to the company" for the coal mine in the Akbelen Forest.
According to the Committee, there are also 1,500-decare olive groves in the area surrounding the Akbelen Forest. The Committee has recalled that "as the expert report canceled in the court case did not mention the related olive groves, the lawyers of İkizköy appealed against this report and by taking it together with other points, the court canceled the related expert report."
"The canceled expert examination will be repeated today (March 1, 2022) at 10 am," the Committee has added further.
What happened?
The Akbelen Forest in Muğla's Milas was cut down in order to provide the Yeniköy Kemerköy Thermal Power Plant operated by the LİMAK Holding with lignite. The villagers of İkizköy, where the forest is located, have been waging a struggle in the face of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry permission to open a lignite mine in the 740-decare Akbelen Forest.
Villagers and environmentalists sued the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the General Directorate of Forestry by applying to the Muğla 1st Administrative Court. Receiving the defense of the administration, the court ruled for an expert examination in the forest.
Not waiting for the court ruling, the Directorate General of Forestry came to the forest with excavators on July 17 and started cutting trees. In response, the people of İkizköy filed a criminal complaint against the officials of the Directorate General for "misconduct in office."
The cutting of trees stopped thanks to the struggle of the villagers who put up tents and started keeping watch at the entrance of the forest.
In the lawsuits filed against the cutting of trees in the Akbelen Forest in Muğla's İkizköy in Milas, the administrative courts granted motions for stay of execution. The decision of "No Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is necessary" was also canceled.
The people of İkizköy welcomed the decisions given by the Muğla 3rd Administrative Court and the Muğla 1st Administrative Court. While the former gave a decision of stay of execution for the EIA Exemption for the Integrated Facility, the latter halted the execution of the cutting of trees. The courts also requested the expert examination in the Akbelen forest. (TP/SD)