Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer, said that they will carry out a legal fight against the change in the regulation that allows mining activities to be carried out in olive groves. Evaluating the regulation as a death warrant, Soyer said, “Some of the olive trees you have ordered to destroy are more than a thousand years old. I repeat, you cannot destroy the olive trees, the symbol of peace and wisdom. You cannot destroy life," he said.
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality took action after the Regulation of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources on Amending the Mining Regulation was published in the Official Gazette and entered into force. İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor, who announced that he would go to court for the annulment of the regulation that paved the way for mining activities in olive groves. Tunç Soyerannounced this decision on his social media account.
“Death warrant, ignorance at best”
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor, who evaluated the regulation as a death warrant Tunç Soyer“I am deeply saddened and amazed by the regulation that came into force after being published in the Official Gazette and the death warrant for olive groves. It is ignorance at best to allow olive trees to be destroyed on condition that they are 'later rehabilitated and restored'. Today, many different parts of Anatolia, especially the Aegean Region, are full of centuries-old olive trees. I ask you: After cutting down a hundred-year-old olive tree, how will you restore it? Aren't you aware that this regulation will destroy the nature of Turkey and our olive economy? Some olive trees that you have decreed to destroy are more than a thousand years old. Older than all of us. Older than many countries. Olive trees are older than the Official Gazette. They do not belong to us. We belong to them. I had informed the public that the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality would file a lawsuit for a stay of execution against this unacceptable regulation. Once again, I repeat, you cannot destroy olive trees, which are symbols of peace and wisdom. You cannot destroy life," he said.
What does the regulation contain?
According to the Regulation of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources on the Amendment of the Mining Regulation, if the mining activities carried out for electricity generation coincide with the areas registered as olive groves in the land registry and it is not possible to carry out the activities in other areas, the part of the olive field where mining activities will be carried out, the mining in the field. The Ministry may give permission to carry out activities and to construct temporary facilities related to these activities, taking into account the public interest. In this context, in order for the olive grove to be used, the person who will carry out mining activities must undertake to rehabilitate and restore the site at the end of the activities. In cases where it is not possible to move the field, there is a requirement to rehabilitate and restore the field at the end of the mining activities, and to undertake an olive orchard establishment in an area deemed appropriate by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in accordance with the planting norms, and in the same size as the field where the activity will be carried out.
The person who is decided in favor of carrying out mining activities will be responsible for all costs related to the transportation of the olive field and all the demands arising from the transportation of the olive field.
Be the first to comment