* Photograph: Karaağız Village Resistance / Twitter
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Having won the lawsuit that they filed against the construction plan of a solid waste plant planned to built in their village in Bursa, the villagers of Karaağız have also won the lawsuit that they filed against its building license.
The District Municipality of Büyükorhan granted a building license to the Biomass to Energy Plant, which was planned to be constructed in the village.
Among the ones who kept round-the-clock watch to protect their village from the energy plant were primarily women. After the lawsuit filed against the construction plan was won on May 31, a statement was made on the "Karaağız Village Resistance" Twitter account.
In their message on social media, villagers of Karaağız said, "Our round-the-clock watches that we have kept for the last 342 days and our unfaltering stance have paid off. It has been cancelled with an emphasis on carcinogens and leukemia in case the plant is constructed."
#karaagiz köyünün bekledigi karar cikti üçünçü davayi da kazandik ruhsat iptal edildi. annelerimizin ve cocuklarimizin emekleri karsiligini yargida buldupic.twitter.com/rCfC4vl5bZ
— Karaağiz Köyü Direniş (@kaagiz) 19 Temmuz 2019
In another message shared on the same account, the villagers said, "The verdict awaited by the village of Karaağız has been announced: We have won the third lawsuit and the license has been cancelled. The labor of our mothers and children has paid off in the judiciary."
After the villagers won the lawsuits that they filed against the construction plan and building license of the biomass (solid waste) energy plant, they celebrated it with festivities in their village on June 30.
The festivities were attended by not only the villagers themselves, but also lawyers of Bursa Bar Association, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) MP Nurhayat Altaca Kayışoğlu, Mudanya District Mayor Hayri Türkyılmaz and representatives from the academic professional organizations that supported villagers' resistance. (AÖ/SD)