By Birsen Altayli and Burcu Karakas
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Environmental campaigners in southwest Turkey protested in a forest for a fourth day on Thursday against the felling of trees to make way for a coal mine’s expansion, with a lawyer saying 14 people have been detained this week in clashes with police.
Armoured vehicles and security forces were deployed to block protesters from entering the woodland in Mugla province, and activists said police had sporadically fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse them since Monday.
In 2020, the forestry ministry granted permission to Turkish company YK Energy to expand the mine in 780 acres of forest in the Akbelen area. The court has not yet ruled on a lawsuit filed by locals challenging these permissions.
Locals sought an injunction and started a vigil in the forest in 2021. However, a court lifted a stay of execution in 2022 and an official from one of the companies involved said there was no legal obstacle to their actions.
Activists says the Akbelen forest will be totally destroyed by July 31 if the deforestation continues.
“Some activists were hospitalised. My grandmother fainted during a clash with police. We will continue to resist,” Esra Isik, a local environmental committee spokesperson, told Reuters.
Turkey’s Limak Group and IC Ictas bought YK Energy for $2.67 billion in a privatisation tender in 2014. Limak Holding declined to comment on the developments.
The protests have gained national attention, and a delegation led by Turkey’s main opposition CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu is set to visit the affected Akbelen area on Friday to show solidarity with the protesters.
On Thursday, locals protested in front of the administrative court in Mugla, carrying a banner saying “Justice for Akbelen”.
Arman Atılgan, a lawyer, said 14 activists accused of “resisting police officers” had been detained during the protests this week. Police in Mugla could not immediately be reached for comment.
Over the past 35 years, eight villages have been cleared for coal mines in Mugla, according to a report by the NGO Climate Action Network Europe.
(Reporting by Birsen Altayli and Burcu Karakas; Editing by Daren Butler and Alison Williams)
