Aycan Karadağ
While the land is being pierced all over the country, companies eyeing water, soil, and forests move forward with their projects under the government’s protection. In response, peasants, producers, and environmental defenders resist not only through legal channels but by making their voices heard street by street. As capital seeks to turn the land into a marketplace under the name of mining, the people refuse to allow it.
EXPERT REPORT REVEALED: WATER, AGRICULTURE AND LIFE AT RISK
In Çömlekçi neighbourhood of Gölmarmara district in Manisa, local residents who filed a lawsuit against the 200,000-ton-capacity sand and gravel quarry planned by Gölmar Madencilik achieved their first victory with the expert report. In the case filed with the initiative of Doğa Association, Turgutlu Environmental Association, and Akhisar Environmental Association, a five-member expert committee appointed by the Manisa 2nd Administrative Court stated that the project was neither in the public interest nor compliant with environmental legislation.
The report emphasised that the quarry area lies on the water sources feeding Marmara Lake and within the second-degree protection zone of the Sarıkız Springs, which supply İzmir’s drinking water. The experts warned that the activities would directly affect groundwater, agricultural lands, and olive groves. They also found serious inconsistencies between the quarry plan and reserve calculations, noting that the planning “does not reflect reality” and is not suitable in terms of mining engineering. It was determined that olive groves are located only 50 metres from the quarry area. The experts stated that this clearly violates the Olive Cultivation Law, which requires a 3-kilometre protection distance.
WHY IS IT A CRITICAL WATER BASIN?
Marmara Lake, one of the largest natural freshwater lakes in the Aegean Region, sustains both the water balance of the Gediz Basin and thousands of hectares of farmland surrounding it. The lake collects groundwater and surface water through the Gördes and Kum streams, thereby providing irrigation for olive groves and vineyards across Manisa, Akhisar, Salihli, and Turgutlu. Experts warn that if Gölmarmara’s “basin integrity” is disrupted, not only the lake but the entire Gediz Plain will face the risk of drying up.
16,000 TREES TO BE CUT DOWN
In Diyarbakır, environmental defenders gathered under the slogan “We march for life against eco-cide policies, the judiciary of capital, and the plunder law.” The group marched from the Bus Terminal Junction to the Diyarbakır Administrative Court and made a statement there. Ahmet İnan from the Diyarbakır Bar Association’s Environment and Urban Commission said that due to the lead mining activities ongoing for ten years in the villages of Kurşunlu and Kırkpınar along the Dicle, people had developed cancer, 16,000 trees would be cut down, and the Dicle Dam protection zone would be turned into a lead mining field. İnan stated that expert reports and court rulings are systematically altered in favour of capital, adding that the hearing for the mining project in the Hesandin Plateau would also be held today.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Talana halk barikatı, published in BirGün newspaper on October 9, 2025.
