Women resisting in İkizdere: Cengiz, take your dozer and go!

* Photos and videos: Evrim Kepenek / bianet

Click to read the article in Turkish

"One side of us sheds leaves, and the other is a spring garden"

In İkizdere, they run a criminal record check (GBT) on everyone who goes there to support the ones who are resisting the stone quarry.

If someone does not fasten their seat belt right after getting into the vehicle, they are fined on the grounds that "they did not fasten their seat belt."

Police vehicles patrolling at certain hours "remind" people that "protests in İkizdere have been banned."

Despite the GBT control, fines, and "reminders", all you see is "determination" when you arrive in İkizdere Cevizli.

This time, we are with those who are resisting in Rize's İkizdere in Turkey's Black region.

İkizdere is on the agenda these days against the quarry that Cengiz Construction company wants to build.

İkizdere, which is under UNESCO protection due to its natural beauties and endemic vegetation, is 56 km away from the center of Rize.

You drive up from İkizdere by car for 30-40 minutes to get to those who are in resistance against the quarry.

When you say, "I want to go to the quarry area" as soon as you get in the vehicle, the answer you get is "The gendarmeries are there, get off when you see them."

Reaction against the media

Along the route, while the creek and forest accompany you on one side, you see large and small construction areas on the other.

According to the information provided by the people of the region, there are also quarries belonging to Cengiz Construction and other companies in the region. Therefore, what you see along the way is both a strong nature and prospecting activities that will destroy that nature.

We keep going just like an Ahmet Kaya song "One side of us sheds leaves, and the other is a spring garden..."

When I finally see the gendarmeries, I get out of the vehicle. The gendarmerie takes a photo of my ID and press card, as they do to other people. I learn from lawyers that this will return to individuals as a fine. The gendarmerie allows me to take photos in the area where the quarry is intended but says that if I am going to have an interview, they will not allow it.

I take my pictures and get to the women in resistance in no time flat. We start the conversation in the presence of a lush green area, the sound of a construction machine coming from far away, and the sound of the stream. The people of the region also reacted against the media, which described them as "separatists" because they defended their living spaces:

"If you are going to write the facts, let's tell you them, we have nothing to do with politics. Write what we say as it is."

'Cengiz, get the hell out'

İkizdere direniyor pic.twitter.com/i3agfy74jy
— Evrim Kepenek (@kepenekevrimm) May 20, 2021

In the video, Ayşe Baş says:

"I thank everyone. Everyone was on our side. They called from everywhere, heard our voice. What did we do to get this man to cause us so much trouble?

"I have nowhere else to go. I raised my children here. We've been living here for generations. We have plateaus, we're always there in summer, when the fall comes everyone scatters. We bake cornbread, fry pickles.

"Our concern is not politics. We are defending where we live. I am determined, I will resist.

'Can't you hear us, Cengiz Construction?'

"They hazed us. I'm scared to live here. Our homes are in danger because of the rain. I told them, they didn't listen. I told the commander.

"There was a landslide here. This place is not suitable for prospecting for a quarry or extracting stones. Everyone says it, tells it. Cengiz does not understand. He only cares about money money money.

"I have already sent a word to him. Can't you hear us, Cengiz Construction? Leave us and go away. Pull your car, dozers away. You hadn't seen us until recently. Where did you hear about us and come here? He sends cars and dozers, but is nowhere to be found."

'We are not safe'

Speaking afterwards, Pervin Baş says, "Before they came, there was peace, they came, peace went away":

"I thank everyone, too. Everyone is on our side, but this man still doesn't back off. We will not, either. We will resist until there is only one person left.

"Cengiz Construction I call out to you: Wherever you go, just go away from here. I would say, go to your own area, but the people there will get hurt, too. Go away from our place and go wherever you go. They have divided the village into two. They have made people enemies to us.

"We could not go to our own lands. We can't go up. The gendarmeries are following us. We are not safe from the sounds of dynamite and trucks in our own village."

What's happening in İkizdere?

A decision of urgent expropriation was taken in İskencedere Valley in the district with the Presidential decree for the quarry needed to be used in the logistics port construction to be built in the İkizdere, Rize.

Thereupon, the villagers took action and set up a tent at the entrance of the valley, started to keep watch and took the decision to the court. However, Cengiz Holding employees, who would carry out the construction, entered the valley on April 21 and started to work for the stone quarry.

Company employees, who came with the gendarmerie, asked the citizens who set up tents at the entrance of the valley and were on guard to remove their tents. Despite the reactions of the citizens on watch, the tents were lifted and the gendarmerie barricaded the entrance of the valley.

In a short time, the construction machines started to work, and the people of the region flocked to the valley. Citizens said that the authorities of the company working in the valley did not have any permissions and that the work was illegal. The resisting villagers ensured that the construction machinery left the area with their protests.

Law enforcement fined the villagers for failing to comply with the curfew declared as part of the COVID-19 pandemic measures. The villagers continued to resist despite the fines. On Sunday, April 25, the villagers whose roads were blocked came with trucks from the forest and demanded the cessation of the activity and the withdrawal of the gendarmerie.

The gendarmerie did not withdraw and, as the resistance continued, they intervened with tear gas against the villagers. Several women were injured during the intervention, and the villagers were detained. The villagers, including İkizdere Associations Federation Chair Ziya Yıldırım, were later released. They were also fined due to the 3-day coronavirus lockdown.

Despite the resistance, it was revealed that Cengiz İnşaat applied for a capacity increase on 3 March while the construction was continuing and the 11th Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure gave the company permission to open a new quarry. Having faced protests over the stone quarry project for weeks, Cengiz Holding stated that the site for the quarry was chosen by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

A natural archeological site

The quarry that Cengiz Holding wants to open is located in the natural protected area, İkizdere-İşkence Valley. The Valley has been designated as the "New Thermal and Winter Tourism Destination" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In the region, on the other hand, the "exemplary plateau" model will be applied by the Ministry.

Therefore, the region is considered as an exemplary plateau, a natural protected area, and a tourism area. The Anzer Plateau where the famous Anzer honey is produced, Çamlık Promenade, Çağrankaya Plateaus, and Ovit are also located in İkizdere.

The economy of the district is generally based on agriculture. The main agricultural products are tea and potatoes, but small amounts of kiwis, corn, pears, and nuts are also grown. While cattle and sheep are fed with the transhumance method, beekeeping is another source of livelihood.

Note: Six Hydroelectric Power Plants are operating in İkizdere Valley, one of the 200 protected valleys in the world and will be used by Cengiz İnşaat for the quarry, while two quarries are actively operating.

(EMK/DCE/SD)

NEWS / IMPRESSIONS FROM İKİZDERE