Turkey's Greens Rally Against Environment Bill Draft
* Protests in İzmir
Turkey's Greens and the Left Party of the Future members rallied across 6 major cities (İstanbul, Bursa, İzmir, Çanakkale, Adana, Ankara) yesterday against a government bill draft on nature and biological diversity protection, saying that it aimed to exploit the environment.
Roughly a hundred people assembled in Istanbul's Galatasaray Square yesterday and marched across Istanbul Avenue with slogans demanding an urgent protection in Turkey's fragile environmental equilibrium. Notable environmental activists from European Green Youth Federation also joined the cause.
* Protests in Istanbul
"The bill draft doesn't aim to protect the environment. On the contrary, it aims to open the environment to the exploitation of various industrial sectors. Environmental protection is a serious matter and can't be left to politicians. The bill draft envisions that. Only independent institutions can protect the environment in the light of scientific criteria," protestors said in a statement.
Activists claimed the bill draft could result a biological genocide in Turkey.
"If laws don't aim to protect but exploit, this is the result. Our selfish acts will risk not only basic equilibrium of the environment, but also bring risks to our future."
The statement also claimed that the bill draft was unconstitutional and violated major international treaties on environmental protection. (NV/BM)
** Photos: Mevlüt Ülgen ve Pelin Cengiz