‘Government has stepped up anti-environmental projects during the pandemic’

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The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) held an online press conference titled "Ecological Destruction in Turkey During the COVID-19 Pandemic."

Organized on the occasion of June 5 World Environment Day, the TTB event was aimed at defending the right to live in a healthy environment and making the struggles waged with this aim visible.

In her opening speech, TTB Central Council Chair Prof. Şebnem Korur Fincancı referred to the data shared by the World Health Organization (WHO) and underlined that one fourth of the deaths that occured in a year were related to the destruction of the environment. She noted that every year, 8 million people lose their lives as a direct result of air pollution.

"Seeing the global outbreak as an opportunity, governments do not have any concerns about attacking the ecosystem more deeply. We are also faced with serious consequences all across Turkey," she said.

'Resisting is more important than ever'

Afterwards, Dr. Ahmet Soysal made a presentation about the instant, medium-term and long-term effects of the pandemic on the environment.

Soysal noted that especially the sudden restriction of heavy industry, transportation and accommodation facilities had positive impacts.

Noting that the government in Turkey has seen the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to step up the projects whose environmental effects are controversial, Soysal referred to a series of examples within this context, including the Canal İstanbul project, the stone quarry attempted to be opened in Rize's İkizdere in the Black Sea region, the mining activities in Cerattepe and Mount Ida, new coal-powered thermal power plants, İzmir-Çeşme Tourism Project, new highways and the import of plastic waste.

Concluding his presentation, Soysal said: "In our country, those who see the environment solely as a source of cheap raw materials and plunder it accordingly want to continue their plunder faster and more cruelly by benefiting from the extraordinary conditions of this period.

"It is now more important than ever before that a resistance be put up on a scientific, legal and social basis in spite of all these hardships and pressures and that medical chambers claim this resistance."

'Government has made the country unlivable'

Speaking at the TTB's online event, Dr. Nasır Nesanır, the TTB Public Health Section Chair, noted that the pandemic has forced people to reconsider their relationship with the natural life. Underlining that the government has turned the country into an unlivable place for all living beings in Turkey, Dr. Nesanır stressed that the scientific, legal and social struggle must be waged with insistence in the face of this wave of attacks. (KÖ/SD)