Opposition CHP establishes nature rights observation committees following controversial decisions of gov't

Serkan Alan/ DUVAR

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has established nature rights observation committees in 60 of Turkey's 81 provinces, in an effort to increase the party's role in addressing environmental issues.

The establishment of these commitees has occurred alongside two major moves on the part of the government that critics believe could have disastrous environmental effects.

In October, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed a declaration removing the national park status of the Göreme Valley National Park, which is in the heart of the Cappadocia region, among the country's most renowned tourist destinations.

Last week, the Ministry of Urban Planning and Environment announced that it was preparing a draft law which would wrest control of Istanbul's Bosphorus strait from the CHP-led Istanbul Greater City Municipality, (İBB). This year, the CHP's Ekrem İmamoğlu won the Istanbul mayoral election, marking the first time in 25 years that the city is not under the control of former mayor Erdoğan or a mayor from Erdoğan's former or current parties.

This would also grant the ministry authority over the development of the areas alongside the Bosphorus, creating speculation that lucrative real estate projects enabled by government would spring up in the valuable areas alongside the crucial strait.

“[The AKP] still feels the loss of the Istanbul mayor's office in their hearts. With motives of revenge, they are trying to cut off the authorities belonging to the İBB and collect them in the hands of a one-man regime,” said the CHP's Gülizar Biçer Karaca, who is vice precident of the party's nature rights commission.

Karaca said that the party has established official nature rights observation commissions in 60 of the country's provinces, each of which have a seven-member team. She said that they have yet to establish such commissions in the remaining 21 provinces due to difficulties finding legal representatives and team members in those areas.

Referring to the removal of the natural park status of Göreme Valley, Karaca said that her party was working with authorities in the area to file a lawsuit to reverse the decision. “This is a place that received its national park status in 1986, is on the UNESCO world heritage list, and carries the traces of the pasts of numerous civilizations. The primary purpose of removing its national park status is to pave the way for development,” Karaca said.

“We believe that the area's national park and our cultural heritage must not be surrendered to construction,” Karaca said.

This summer, major demonstrations were held following the clearcutting of a significant area of forest in the country's Kaz Mountains for the purpose of mining gold in the area. Karaca responded to criticism that the CHP had not sufficiently supported efforts to halt the project.

“With the requests of civil society organizations, the CHP was the first party to support the the struggle in the Kaz Mountains,” Karaca said, adding that the party had provided and continue to provide logistic and actual support to the cause.