"Do not Touch Salaçur!"

From Macahel to Fındıklı and from Palovit to İkizdere the eastern Black Sea region is a unique and vulnerable area of nature. Now bit by bit it is brought to the brink of destruction.

The government seems to be determined to equip the Black Sea region with hydroelectric power plants. To achieve the aims of private companies for whatever reason they always choose places under natural protection. Currently, the construction of a power plant has been started to utilize the water sources of Salaçur Valley on the Verçenik peak at Kaçkarlar, 3,711 meters in altitude. On one hand the Environment and Forest Ministry declared the region as an area of wild life development; on the other hand the same ministry breaks the law and violates the right of nature by allowing the construction of the Hydroelectric Power Plants (HES), which will endanger local nature.

The Salaçur Valley in İspir is among the world's 305 Key Biodiversity Areas. Although the valley is widely unknown in Turkey, the Ministry of Environment and Forests requested to protect it as a Wildlife Development Area in 2005 because of the valley's importance on the world scale. However, nowadays, despite the status of protection the rights on the water from the stream that has its source in the valley have been sold to private companies. As a result, HES pushes the construction with full speed and the natural heritage of the region is irreversibly destroyed. Tens of thousands of tons of construction debris is poured into the river bed which caused rare species such as the red-speckled trout or the otter to disappear, walnut trees are buried under the digging. The people from Aksu show strong reactions against the HES construction and the resulting destruction of the Aksu stream which carries crucial importance for the life in the valley.

Violation of wild life regulations

Aksu Valley Protection and Sustenance Association President Yakup Kaplan says:

"The tens of thousands tons of construction rubble from the tunnels HES is digging are poured into the river bed. This debris destroyed the commonly used walnut and fruit trees, fields and living creatures. We watched the death of the red-speckled trout and the otters. When these illegal constructions will be finished it is our turn. Our water will not flow down the river bed anymore but will be carried away through long tunnels to other places. Not only is the human life affected by this, but this also means the end of rare species like the brown bear, the lynx or the wild mountain goat".

Nature Association Chairman Güven Eken explains the legal side, "Article 13 of the regulations on wild life protection and development areas says 'In areas of wild life protection and development permission cannot be given to activities and structures beyond the ones determined in the management and development plan; the ecosystem may not be spoiled'".

"Nevertheless, the Environment and Forests Ministry ignores the destruction of the Çoruh Aksu Valley. The HES construction is justified by unscientific reports stating that there will be no affect on the regions nature" Eken reports. "How much more can you hide behind false reports after blasting the mountains, covering the stream with rubbles and diverting the water? The Environment and Forests Ministry's crimes regarding the Çoruh Aksu Stream and all the other rivers and natural areas are the last straw that breaks the camel's back", argues Eken, claiming that these mistakes have to be corrected as soon as possible. (CUB/BÇ/VK)