reports in ENVIRONMENT category

The Black Sea’s 30-year waste knot

The Black Sea’s 30-year waste knot

Threee district mayors in the region reflected on the solid waste problem that has been growing for many years as an unnoticed environmental disaster.

16 May 2026 Filiz Gazi

Akbelen land defender Esra Işık released after 41 days in detention

Akbelen land defender Esra Işık released after 41 days in detention

Işık was detained during a protest against a delegation that arrived in the Akbelen Forest area to conduct inspections for planned expropriations.

Floodgates at Keban Dam on Euphrates opened for first time in six years

Floodgates at Keban Dam on Euphrates opened for first time in six years

Increased rainfall since early March has significantly raised dam occupancy rates at across Turkey.

High court stays expropriation of land for coal mines near Akbelen Forest

High court stays expropriation of land for coal mines near Akbelen Forest

Turkey's top administrative court stayed a presidential order for the urgent expropriation of lands for coal mining to feed power plants in the region, which has been the site of a years-long resistance.

7 May 2026 Hikmet Adal

Sivas biogas plant pollutes agricultural lands and pastures, says MP

Sivas biogas plant pollutes agricultural lands and pastures, says MP

The plant has recently become the subject of numerous complaints from local residents and farmers.

Rare black stork spotted in Bartın

Rare black stork spotted in Bartın

Nature conservation personnel recorded the bird while it was feeding.

Akbelen Forest activist Esra Işık kept in custody after first hearing

Akbelen Forest activist Esra Işık kept in custody after first hearing

Locals have been resisting the expansion of mining projects around the Akbelen forest for years.

Tuğçe Yılmaz

Three community dogs living in Kadıköy for years taken to shelter

Three community dogs living in Kadıköy for years taken to shelter

The dogs need to be adopted to get out of the shelter.

20 April 2026 Tuğçe Yılmaz

Turkey ranks first in Europe for fatal landslides

Turkey ranks first in Europe for fatal landslides

The vast majority of landslides occur in environments transformed by human activity.

Ağrı sees highest winter precipitation in 66 years

Ağrı sees highest winter precipitation in 66 years

"Our animals are inside, we have not been able to take them to the plateaus yet. We are still burning stoves," a farmer said.

Aren Yıldırım

Locals challenge geothermal energy projects in Muş and Bingöl over threats to livelihood

Locals challenge geothermal energy projects in Muş and Bingöl over threats to livelihood

"They want to depopulate and turn the entire area between the two districts into a desert. They are forcing people to migrate. Hundreds of thousands of living beings live in the region," says a local resident.

3 April 2026 Aren Yıldırım

MP files motion to investigate shale oil impacts in Diyarbakır

MP files motion to investigate shale oil impacts in Diyarbakır

Serhat Eren highlighted that nearly 350,000 decares of agricultural land were lost over the last 5 years in the region due to shale oil and gas exploration activities.

Melisa Elçin Özçelikel

'We stand against the outlaws of the sea'

'We stand against the outlaws of the sea'

Goldman Prize-winning marine conservationist Zafer Kızılkaya in Geneva: "We are not activists. We are activists at sea"

23 March 2026 Melisa Elçin Özçelikel

UN report highlights severe air pollution in Turkey

UN report highlights severe air pollution in Turkey

“The UN Rapporteur’s findings for Turkey align with the assessments of our platform. Air pollution in our country is at a crisis level," says an expert.

Stork Yaren reunites with fisherman friend for 15th year in Bursa 'stork village'

Stork Yaren reunites with fisherman friend for 15th year in Bursa 'stork village'

Yaren the stork landed on Adem Yılmaz’s boat once again, continuing their annual reunion after migration.

27 February 2026

Climate crisis at the table, market regime in the fields

Climate crisis at the table, market regime in the fields

Agriculture is more than a form of production; it is a way of forming relationships: collective harvests, the culture of mutual aid, communal fields… All of these are on the brink of disappearing. Solidarity-based production relations have been dismantled.

14 February 2026 Kenan Kahya

Berk H. Topaktaş

Road built through olive groves in protected coastal zone in Antalya

Road built through olive groves in protected coastal zone in Antalya

“There are olive groves here that belong to locals from Kaş. But this road was not built so that locals could access their groves and harvest olives more easily when the time comes. It was given to a company," said a local environmental activist.

12 February 2026 Berk H. Topaktaş

Waste: the class face of the ecological crisis

Waste: the class face of the ecological crisis

In Turkey, the amount of plastic waste per capita has reached 128 kilograms per year.

7 February 2026 Kenan Kahya

Turkey ranked second in EU pesticide alerts in 2025

Turkey ranked second in EU pesticide alerts in 2025

India topped the list with 124 pesticide notifications, followed by Turkey with 105, according to European Commission data.

13 January 2026

Soil Atlas 2025: ‘Without protecting soil, we cannot safeguard water, food, or justice’

Soil Atlas 2025: ‘Without protecting soil, we cannot safeguard water, food, or justice’

At the launch of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung’s updated Soil Atlas 2025, experts highlighted growing soil degradation, rapid urbanization, and the uncertain future of agriculture in Turkey, calling for urgent action to protect the country’s most vital resource.

8 January 2026 Cemre Nayir

From Ida with a thousand springs to Kaz Mountains with a thousand mines

From Ida with a thousand springs to Kaz Mountains with a thousand mines

Kazdağları faces a serious threat from planned gold-silver mining projects in the region. As the process advances in line with EIA reports and company statements, local communities and professional organizations are once again mobilizing to defend their living spaces.

29 December 2025 Berk Butan

Storks in eastern Turkey increasingly skip migration due to warming climate

Storks in eastern Turkey increasingly skip migration due to warming climate

"The mild climate and the fact that winters have become warmer in recent years due to global climate change allow the storks to stay here," says an expert.

29 December 2025

Protest against development on bird habitat in Ordu

Protest against development on bird habitat in Ordu

"The regional appeals court has upheld the annulment of the zoning change. Despite this, continuing work on the site clearly causes public harm," protesters say.

22 December 2025

Rare red fox and rough-legged buzzard spotted in Kars amid harsh winter

Rare red fox and rough-legged buzzard spotted in Kars amid harsh winter

A red fox and a rough-legged buzzard were observed searching for prey.

17 December 2025

36 mountain goats killed in Şırnak, ecology group accuses village guards

36 mountain goats killed in Şırnak, ecology group accuses village guards

The animals were killed during their breeding season.

15 December 2025

Unseasonably warm weather extends tea harvest into December in Rize

Unseasonably warm weather extends tea harvest into December in Rize

“From what I’ve heard from my elders, such an extended tea harvest has not happened in Rize’s history," says the head of the province's chamber of agriculture.

15 December 2025

Serap Cömertoğlu-İşcan

Quartz sand mining project in Tekirdağ canceled over water, farming risks

Quartz sand mining project in Tekirdağ canceled over water, farming risks

The environmental impact assessment process for the project planned for the Seymen Pasture was terminated due to the negative opinions of official institutions.

12 December 2025 Serap Cömertoğlu İşcan

Yekta Armanc Hatipoğlu

Diyarbakır villagers protest planned pumice mine threatening water and graves

Diyarbakır villagers protest planned pumice mine threatening water and graves

The project are for the mine overlaps with parts of the Hûsika village, its water reservoir and cemetery.

9 December 2025 Yekta Armanc Hatipoğlu

Rare fallow deer spotted on camera in protected Antalya habitat

Rare fallow deer spotted on camera in protected Antalya habitat

The fallow deer, native to the Mediterranean region, are classified as an endangered species due to habitat loss and hunting.

1 December 2025

A data-driven fight for nature against mega mines: We are racing against time

A data-driven fight for nature against mega mines: We are racing against time

Fueled by laws, regulations, and incentives that disregard nature, mining is expanding through mega projects covering tens of thousands of hectares, leading to ecocide. Polen Ecology’s mapping and EIA monitoring project based on MAPEG data offers a warning for the near future: “The outlook for 2026–2027 will be even more disastrous.”

28 November 2025 Cansu Acar

Tuğçe Yılmaz

The ‘haunting’ face of the climate crisis: Ancient structures emerge from drought

The ‘haunting’ face of the climate crisis: Ancient structures emerge from drought

As drought exposes ancient harbors and settlements in Lake Van and Lake İznik, experts highlight the urgent need for preservation and warn of the risks posed by the rise of “drought tourism.”

24 November 2025 Tuğçe Yılmaz

Court orders ministry to release withheld countrywide pesticide analysis results

Court orders ministry to release withheld countrywide pesticide analysis results

A previous Greenpeace report found that one in every three tested food items failed to meet legal standards.

18 November 2025

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