New Lawsuit Against İzdemir Power Plant: 'There is Open Resistance Against Court Ruling’

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İzmir Bar Association, İzmir Medical Chamber, Aegean Environment and Culture Platform (EGEÇEP), Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) and people of Aliaağa, Foça and Menemen have filed a lawsuit against the third positive Impact Assessment Report issued for the İzdemir Power Plant planned to be constructed in Aliağa and Foça.

Emphasizing that the İzdemir Therman Power Plant - II will cause an irreversible air and environmental pollution in the region, the civil society organizations have stated in their lawsuit petition that "there is an open resistance against the previous two court rulings."

Vice Chair of İzmir Bar Association attorney Özgür Yılmazer has spoken to bianet about the issue and the judicial process:

"They are circumventing the law"

Referring to the third positive Environmental Impact Assessment Report taken by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization after the first two were annulled by the related rulings of the court, attorney Yılmazer has said, "They are circumventing the law" and added:

"The İzmir 2nd and 5th Administrative Courts cancelled the positive Environmental Impact Assessment Report twice before.

"However, when an application was submitted with the request that the ruling of cancellation given by the court be put into force, a third positive Environmental Impact Assessment Report has been taken by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization without waiting for the legal process or putting the related ruling of the court into effect.

"And we, as the civil society organizations of İzmir, including the people of Foça, Menemen and Aliağa, have initiated a new process of lawsuit as of yesterday (January 28).

"They are making every effort to start constructing the power plant as soon as possible. In the new lawsuit that we have filed, we have again requested a stay of execution. Since the stay of execution is an immediately given ruling, we will first ensure that the execution is stopped.

"It is highly likely that the court will rule for the stay of execution again and cancel the third positive Environmental Impact Assessment report."

"Legal security of people has been eliminated"

In the lawsuit petition, it has been stated that "the related procedure is a product of resistance against the court ruling" and added:

"Though the first two positive Environmental Impact Assessment Report given for the Aliağa-İZdemir Thermal Power Plant were annulled by the court twice, another positive report was filed within the 30-day period, when the ruling of the court was supposed to be implemented.

"This incident, which violates the Article 138/4 of the Constitution, is an open resistance against the ruling of the court and a crime. With the procedure in question, the legal security of the plaintiff as well as that of people living in Aliağa and its vicinity has been eliminated." (PT/SD)