Çambükü villagers resisting building plans on meadows and arable fields win at first instance
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The Court has ruled yesterday (February 2) for a "stay of execution" in the case filed against the building of an Organized Industrial Site (OIS) on the meadows and arable fields of the villagers in Çambükü village of Taşova, Amasya in the north of Türkiye.
The Samsun 3rd Administrative Court stated in its ruling that the area which is being used for agriculture cannot be used for any other purpose.
"While it was required that another area should be searched for within Amasya province that is not arable land, it was observed that such a search has not been made," says the judgment of the first instance court.
The court, therefore, ruled that the decision for building an organized industrial site was not legal and noted that there would be "irrecoverable losses if the plan is implemented since the construction will start."
What happened?
Taşova district governorship gave this area to the Çambükü villagers in 1995 in the scope of an "Agricultural Development Project."
Land subdivision was made officially, the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) built a water channel and the land was made fit for cultivation.
The then-district governor of Taşova, Ali Kazgan distributed the land equally to the villagers.
Çambükü villagers have cultivated the land and planted trees since then.
In 2021 the governorship of Amasya decided to build an OIS and allocated this area for it. The villagers sued the decision at the local administrative court.
On December 5, 2022, heavy machinery entered the Çambükü village, protected by the gendarme.
The villagers went to the area and wanted to stop the machinery to do any work while the judicial process is continuing while the machinery crushed the cultivated areas of the villagers.
The gendarme set up a barricade to prevent the villagers but the villagers continued to resist in order to prevent any work to be done while the related case was continuing. (TY/PE)