16 NGOs file a lawsuit, request shutdown of 37 thermal plants

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Appealing to the Council of State, 16 non-governmental organizations (NGO) have filed a lawsuit against the Presidency and requested the shutdown of 37 thermal power plants across Turkey.

The NGOs, including the Mount Ida Natural and Cultural Assets Conservation Association, held a statement for the press in front of Çanakkale Courthouse after they submitted their petition to the court.

'We don't need coal-fired thermal plants'

"No to plunder of nature," read the banner of the NGOs in their press statement. Having prepared the petition on behalf of the organizations, attorney İsmail Hakkı Atav said that they requested the shutdown of 37 thermal power plants and the cancellation of 7 thermal plants' tenders.

"There are very important scientific studies in our petition," said Atav and briefly added the following: 

"In the northern parts of Italy, where there are automobile factories, the coronavirus mortality rate has hit 12 percent while this rate is 4.5 in the rest of the country. The World Bank carried out a research in the Netherlands. It has revealed that a 20-percent increase in the amount of particles caused by thermal plants leads to an 100-percent increase in coronavirus fatalities. 

"As for Turkey, only Zonguldak province has been quarantined because there are 3 thermal power plants."

Atav noted that thermal plants had to be closed and Turkey was not in need of the energy produced by coal-fired plants: "Turkey now has 36 percent excess supply and produces 30 percent with coal-fired plants. People die for the sake of thermal plants that will not cause an energy gap."

'There are 10 projects only in Çanakkale'

Releasing a statement about the issue, the Mount Ida Natural and Cultural Assets Protection Association has also indicated, "In the 21st century that we live in, we are experiencing the painful effects of the climate crisis with each passing day. We witness climate events such as floods, extreme precipitation and extreme heat every day, we lose our lives."

It has been scientifically proven that the climate crisis and mines have led to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the statement has read further, adding that "it is no joke anymore, immediate action is necessary."

The association has briefly added the following:

"Several countries either shut down their thermal power plants or add it to their programs. However, in our country, there are no measures taken about the issue and, to top it all, new production licenses are given and Environmental Impact Assessment processes are started for new thermal plants. In fact, let alone opening new ones, all thermal power plants need to be urgently shut down with an urgent transformation program.

"In Biga peninsula, there are five operating thermal power plants, two in Çan and three in Biga-Karabiga. As if these were not enough, there are nearly 10 thermal plant projects who have received a positive EIA report, are still in the EIA process or have received a production license.

"While there are scientific works documenting the negative impacts of the thermal plants in Çan and Biga on human and environmental health, it is unacceptable that there is still an insistence on opening new plants.

'Curfew in Zonguldak was not for nothing'

"It has been scientifically proven that the COVID-19 death toll is higher in places with air pollution. COVID-19 virus can stay alive by attaching themselves to the particles emitted from the thermal power plants and they can be moved away. There are scientific works on this. In fact, it was not for nothing that Zonguldak was among the provinces where a curfew was declared at the onset of the pandemic. People living in Zonguldak had already lost their health due to the thermal power plants."

Complainant NGOs:

Adana Medical Chamber, Antakya Nature Conservation Association, Çan Environment Association, Nature and Consumer Protection Association-Adana, EGEÇEP Association, Erzin Natural and Historical Assets Preservation Association, Erzin Citrus Fruit Producers Union, Erzin Yeşilkent Irrigation Cooperative, Erzin Chamber of Agriculture, İskenderun Environment Conservation Association, Mount Ida Natural and Cultural Assets Conservation Association, Mersin Environment Friends Association, Ordu Environment Association, Tarsus Environment Conservation Culture and Art Center Association, Green Artvin Association, Chamber of Agricultural Engineers.

(HA/SD)