NATO involvement requested in Adana thermal power plant trial

Müzeyyen Yüce / DUVAR

Adana Environment and Consumer Protection Association lawyer İsmail Hakkı Atal has filed a lawsuit in an administrative court to cancel the license of an area thermal power plant, claiming that it has caused significant harm to the environment and the people living the area. The involvement of Turkey's Presidency, Ministry of Health and NATO have been requested in the trial by the plaintiff. 

Atal recalled the report of Adana's Çukurova University Public Health department head Ferdi Tanır, which indicated that between 2005 and now, the number of sick people and animals born with disabilities has increased while the area's fish population has declined. Adana's Yumurtalık district, where the plant is located, is on the Mediterranean coast. 

Atal indicated that the cancer rate in the Yumurtalık area where the plant operates has increased significantly since it opened:

“In 2009 it was determined that were nine instances of cancer, seven in 2010, 12 in 2011, 19 in 2012, 44 in 2013 and 60 in 2014. The population has declined from 18,000 to 17,000. At the moment we don't know the cancer statistics, perhaps it has reached the 150-200 mark,” Atal said. 

“According to an official report from the Ministry of Health, the cancer rate in Yumurtalık, where the Sugözü thermal power plant has been operating since 2002, has increased by 1200 percent,” Atal said, adding that the plant contributes harmful radioactive and heavy metallic gasses to the air, which is a threat to the health of the area. 

“According to another report, toxic particles are appearing in the placentas of pregnant women. Most the children born in the area today have hyperactivity or autisim. Because of the polluted air, the newborn children are not healthy. The genetic codes of the animals in Yumurtalık has been damaged,” Atal said. 

Atal said that thermal power plants have had a significant effect on climate change, adding that the 5,000 thermal power plants found worldwide have amounted to 30 percent of greenhouse gasses, adding that the Sugözu thermal powerplant has burned 60 million tons of coal between 2002 and today. 

“A May 2016 Max Planck Institute report indicates that within 20-30 years, due to climate change, 500 million people will be forced to emigrate from the Middle East and North Africa. Since this situation affects our national security, we are requesting the involvement of the presidency and since climate change is an international issue we are requesting the involvement of NATO in this trial due to the extent that this thermal power plant has harmed our country,” Atal said.