"Forests belong to squirrels, not miners"
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John McCluskey, the CEO of the Canada-based Alamos Gold company, which is destructing the trees in Ida Mountains to extract gold, has levelled a series of accusations against the environmental activists keeping a "water and conscience watch" in the region.
Currently in Turkey's capital city of Ankara for official visits, McCluskey has spoken to Tuvan Gümrükçü from Reuters there. He has described the ongoing protests against the gold mine project near the village of Kirazlı in Çanakkale as "based on politically-motivated misinformation."
'Only government authorities allowed to cut trees'
Regarding the deforestation in the area, McCluskey has stated that "only government authorities are allowed to cut trees, not the 
company" and added,
"We have already paid for it ... As part of the forestry permit, we have paid about 5 million dollars (and) a big component of that fee is to pay for reforestation"
"In six and a half years, the whole focus of this area will be to replant. And in a decade, maybe a bit more than that, it will look like a forest again."
'If you lose cyanide, you lose the gold'
As to the use of cyanide for the gold mine and people's fear that its use will harm the ecological structure of the area, McCluskey has stated that it will only be used in the final step of the process to extract gold.
The CEO has also claimed that the company has taken measures to ensure that there would be no leaks into the environment, adding that the operations would not affect the watershed, either.
"Not only do we make that impossible, if we did not make that impossible we should not even start, because by the time you have added the cyanide to the process it is because there is gold there. And if you lose the cyanide, you lose the gold", McCluskey has indicated further.
'A deep political agenda'
Regarding the ongoing protests in Ida Mountains and the "water and conscience watch" kept in the region, he has made following claims:
"It is a very cynical thing to say, but I believe that this whole attack is essentially just an environmental cloak that is being put over what is really a deep political agenda.
"What I have never experienced in the past is where there has been very deliberate misinformation about this project that is being published in an effort to get very rapidly a very emotive social media response."
CLICK - How Many Trees Cut Down on Ida Mountains for Gold Mine?
What is happening in Ida Mountains?
In early 2000s, the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA) and the Ministry of Energy explored and mapped the mineral deposits in the region. The Law on Mines was amended after 2002 and mine exploration licenses were granted to companies.
When the calendars hit 2010s, the mine exploration licenses were converted to operating licenses. Enterprises started to be established after 2017. People raised their concerns over the destruction of trees in that period as well and organized protest demonstrations.
Having started its operations in the region within this context, the Canada-based Alamos Gold company and its subcontractor Doğu Biga Mining has been cutting trees in Kirazlı since 2017.
While the Environmental Impact Assessment foresaw the cutting of 45 thousand trees, the company cut down 195 thousand trees. After the images and videos of the deforestation have circulated on social media, people from all parts of society have influxed to Çanakkale.
Led by Çanakkale Municipality, the local community and environmental activists have been keeping a "Water and Conscience" watch in an area near the mining site since July 26. (PT/SD)
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