Akbelen Forest resistance: CHP faces protest by locals, gendarmerie assault Green Left MP
The two-year-long protest in the southwestern region has been reignited after authorities resumed cutting down trees to expand a coal mine that supplies coal to nearby thermal power plants. The leader and MPs of the main opposition party also faced protests by locals.
Leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, found himself amidst protests while visiting Muğla today to show solidarity with villagers opposing a coal mine expansion project.
Accompanied by MPs from his party, Kılıçdaroğlu met with villagers near the Akbelen Forest and addressed the media. As one villager pleaded, "Please save our forests," Kılıçdaroğlu responded, "Rest assured, this coal will stay underground."
However, as Kılıçdaroğlu was leaving the area in his car, he encountered a group of protesters blocking his path. The villagers chanted, "To the barricades, not to the car" while hitting the vehicle, which prompted the opposition leader to step out of his car and join the march towards the forest.
However, the gendarmerie did not allow the crowd to march towards the forest, using pepper spray and batons against them. They let Kılıçdaroğlu proceed while detaining several people from the crowd.
Mahmut Tanal, a long-serving deputy of the CHP, was also seen engaging in a heated argument with locals. A video that surfaced on social media shows a woman telling Tanal, "We would have stood up against you!" apparently impliying that the mine project would continue even if the CHP had won the elections in May. In response, Tanal retorts, "We lost the elections because of people like you," and goes on to describe her as a "provocateur" of the ruling party.
Green Left MP injured
Meanwhile, the gendarmerie also assaulted Green Left Party MP Burcugül Çubuk and attempted to take her into custody. The MP was slightly injured.
Video showing MP Çubuk surrounded by gendarmerie officers with shields:
Akbelen'de jandarma müdahalesi. Milletvekili Burcu Gül Çubuk da jandarma tarafından düşürülerek barikatın arkasına alındı. Çubuk, vekil olmasının anlaşılması üzerine bırakıldı. TOMA ve biber gazının kullanıldığı müdahalede çok sayıda kişi etkilendi. #AkbeleneDokunmapic.twitter.com/0ab1dloCk5
Villagers living near the Akbelen Forest in Milas, Muğla have been protesting against a coal mine expansion project for the past two years. The coal mine supplies coal to two nearby thermal power plants.
The area had been relatively calm until July 24 when the gendarmerie conducted a raid, leading to the resumption of tree cutting. This reignited the villagers' and environmentalists' protests.
The villagers argue that the coal mine poses a threat to their living spaces, including olive groves and other vital habitats.
Background
The first thermal power plant in Muğla was established in 1982 in Yatağan, which was followed by the Yeniköy and Kemerköy power in 1986 and 1993, respectively. At the time, these plants did not go through any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, due to the lack of such regulations.
In 1997, a court ordered all three plants to be shut down, and the Council of State, the country's top administrative court, upheld this verdict. However, the plants have continued to operate since then, despite a 2005 ECtHR verdict concluding that Turkey had failed to implement the court ruling concerning the issue.
During a 2014 privatization process, the three plants were acquired by a joint venture between Limak Holding and IC İçtaş Holding, known for winning numerous public tenders over the past decade.
The privatized power plants were allocated 21,000 hectares of land in Yatağan and 23,000 hectares in Milas as lignite mines to supply coal for the plants. Forty-seven percent of this land consisted of forested areas.
Sixty villages and neighborhoods are within the areas licensed for coal mining operations and some of those include olive groves. Only 37 of them are inhabited now, as the others have been evacuated due to mining operations.
According to Article 20 of Law No. 3573 on the Improvement of Olive Groves and Grafting of Wild Olives, first issued in 1939, it is forbidden to establish any facility that emits chemical waste, dust, or smoke within three kilometers of olive groves, except for olive oil factories.
When the plants in agricultural production around the Yatağan Power Plant were analyzed, it was found that the amounts of zinc, lead, cadmium, and copper heavy metals in carrot and sesame samples were above the permitted values for vegetables.
The Yatağan Power Plant consumes 7.5 times the total urban water consumption of the Yatağan district, with a population of 45,000, and Yeniköy Power Plant consumes 2.5 times the annual urban water consumption of the Milas district, with a population of 132,000.
According to the Health and Environment Alliance's 2022 report, the three thermal power plants in Muğla caused more than 68,000 premature deaths, more than 43,000 premature births, and more than 455,000 cases of bronchitis in children from their first commissioning until 2020. And this...
The coal mine of the thermal power plant, which intends to continue its operations until 2043, has reached the border of the Akbelen forest. Işıkdere, one of the three neighborhoods in the İkizköy area, was evacuated in 2018 for the coal mine of the thermal power plant. This time, the villagers who moved from Işıkdere to Karadam Neighborhood sent a notice to vacate this neighborhood.
İkizköy people decided not to leave their villages after the expropriation notifications they received in 2019. While the legal process of Akbelen Forest, which was included in the mining area, continued, the Forestry Regional Directorate teams were prevented by the villagers from cutting the forest on April 22-23, 2021. As of July 17, 2021, they started a vigil in the tents they set up in Akbelen Forest, which they have continued until today.
Authorities in Niğde's Bor district have detained six suspects attempting to sell a medieval-era mummy, believed to belong to a Christian individual, officials announced.
The the provincial gendarmerie command conducted an operation on Mar 11 in the Kemerhisar town and searched the residence of one of the suspects, identified as H.G., discovering a mummified male figure.
Authorities stated that five additional suspects have been detained and that the investigation is ongoing.
Following the operation, Niğde Governor Cahit Çelik shared footage of the raid on social media, congratulating the law enforcement. "We commend our gendarmerie teams for their dedicated efforts in preserving our country’s cultural heritage and congratulate them on their successful operation. We reaffirm our commitment to safeguarding our historical legacy."
The mummy was determined to belong to a Christian individual from the medieval period, the governor added.
📌Niğde İl Jandarma Komutanlığımız tarafından, kültür ve tabiat varlığı kaçakçılığıyla mücadele kapsamında gerçekleştirilen başarılı bir operasyon sonucunda, Bor ilçesi Kemerhisar kasabasında tarihi bir mumyayı satmaya çalışan şahıslar tespit edilerek yakalanmıştır.
Edip Akbayram, a pioneer of Anatolian rock, dies at 75
A key figure in Anatolian rock and protest music, Akbayram stood out from the 1970s onward with songs addressing social issues. He created a unique style by blending folk music with rock and Western musical elements.
One of the leading figures in Turkey's Anatolian rock and protest music, Edip Akbayram, has passed away at the age of 75 while undergoing treatment at a hospital in İstanbul.
The artist was hospitalized on Jan 9 due to suspected internal bleeding caused by a fall from his bed. He underwent surgery on Jan 10.
İstanbul Provincial Health Director Assoc. Prof. Abdullah Emre Güner announced Akbayram's death late yesterday.
A key figure in Anatolian rock and protest music, Akbayram stood out from the 1970s onward with songs addressing social issues. He created a unique style by blending folk music with rock and Western musical elements.
The artist achieved great success with songs like "Aldırma Gönül" and "Eşkıya Dünyaya Hükümdar Olmaz," earning Altın Plak (Golden Vinyl) awards for these works.
In 1972, he won the Altın Mikrofon music competition with his song "Kükredi Çimenler," gaining widespread recognition. He interpreted works by folk poets such as Aşık Mahzuni Şerif, Pir Sultan Abdal, and Karacaoğlan.
Having won over 250 awards throughout his career, he founded Dostlar Orkestrası in 1974.
Edip Akbayram & Dostlar
With his music shaped by the political climate of the 1970s, Akbayram became an artist embraced by leftist circles. In 1979, he married Ayten Hanım (Akbayram), and they had two children, Ozan and Türkü.
Following the 1980 military coup, Akbayram was among the artists whose music was restricted. Between 1981 and 1988, his compositions were banned from being played on the state broadcaster TRT. One of his most well-known songs was "Bekle Bizi İstanbul," adapted from a poem by Vedat Türkali.
From the 1990s onward, he resumed his career and continued to influence audiences with songs like "Güzel Günler Göreceğiz."
In recent years, he maintained this stance and continued to take a critical position. During the 2023 Turkish general elections, he expressed his opposition to the "one-man" rule and supported the opposition alliance. He consistently spoke out against pressure on artists and stood in solidarity with dissident figures.
He voiced support for those imprisoned in the Gezi Trial, calling for justice, and remained committed to workers' rights on significant days like May 1.
When he received the Friendship Award on the 56th anniversary of the death of poet Nâzım Hikmet Ran, he responded to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's remark calling dissident artists "fake artists."
"They call us fake. I sat at home and took stock: in my 50-year artistic career, I’ve seen 10-12 presidents, 8-10 prime ministers, and countless ministers come and go. The so-called 'artist drafts' are those who refuse to bow down and pursue the truth. I consider this an honor," he said in an interview with T24.
Akbayram in the 1970s.
In a 1995 interview with Express magazine, Akbayram reflected on his rendition of Can Yücel's poem "Bizim Deniz," written for Deniz Gezmiş, a socialist revolutionary executed after the 1970 military intervention, and shared his thoughts on the political climate: "March 12 [1970 military intervention] was a period that subjected our youth, thoughts, books, intellectuals, and, most importantly, our democracy to torture under military rule. The people suppressed by Mar 12 and Sep 12 have yet to fully reclaim their identity and individuality. Young people were lined up like laundry on a clothesline.
Can Baba, with his poet's sensitivity, wrote Mare Nostrum (Bizim Deniz) for Deniz Gezmiş and his friends. This meaningful and honorable poem was beautifully composed by dear Mazlum Çimen, the son of Nesimi Çimen, who was burned alive in Sivas. It was up to me to interpret it.
In the music video, the little boy represents the innocence of Deniz's childhood. The child who played young Deniz Gezmiş is the grandson of Nesimi Çimen, whom I remember with respect. The poem has Deniz Gezmiş’s eyes in it, as well as footage from the protests of the '68 generation. But we couldn't fully express everything we wanted to. When you present something too sharp, society reacts.
I don't know how much it will reach the people. TRT doesn’t air it anyway. Private TV channels are capitalist institutions, as you know. So, we thought we shouldn't make it too sharp but rather deliver our message gradually."
Born on Dec 29, 1950, in Antep, Akbayram passed away on Mar 2, 2025 at around 7.30 pm at the University of Health Sciences Haydarpaşa Numune Training and Research Hospital, where he had been receiving treatment.
Most well-known albums
Edip Akbayram (1974) Nice Yıllara Gülüm (1982) Aldırma Gönül (1984) Dün ve Bugün (1998) Senden Haber Yok (2008)
.jpg)
.jpg)
