An informative note to MAPEG

As the number of people standing up for their homeland, their villages, their pastures and highlands, their living spaces, and their forests increases, and as their voices grow louder, the auctioneers are starting to panic...

Fatih Pekdemir, Deputy General Manager of MAPEG, which operates under the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and auctions off villages, orchards and gardens, forests, and rivers and streams to companies,                   

came to Ordu and held a public information meeting...

Speaking at the meeting held in the Ordu Governorship Conference Hall, MAPEG (General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs) Deputy General Manager Fatih Pekdemir criticized the map published by the TEMA Foundation, which shows 74 percent of Ordu as a mining area... He accused them of spreading false information... 

He then added that they have auctioned off licenses for 16 percent of Ordu's surface area so far, and operating permits have been granted for 2 percent of those... In other words, auctions have already been completed for 960 square kilometers of Ordu's 6,000-square-kilometer surface area...                                   Mr. Pekdemir, what about the auctions you are planning to hold? Why don't you talk about those... 

Note that he does not say, "We will not do it... We have canceled them," he cannot say that, but he is angry at TEMA...                  

Because TEMA, seeing the disaster that will occur in the future, is warning us now... It is issuing its warning before the pitcher is broken...

You hold auctions every three months as if you were running a national lottery, transfer 10, 20, or 30 thousand decares of land to companies under the guise of "license auctions," and then come out and attack TEMA!

Is it also a lie that the Perşembe Plateau is being riddled with holes under the pretext of "we are drilling"?                    

Is it also a lie that in the 485 mining auctions you held just yesterday, 243 thousand decares of Ordu,                           

along with the 85 villages within it, were auctioned off to companies!

They say a life without mining is impossible and that the Black Sea is very important for metallic minerals...

Mr. Pekdemir, the Black Sea is also very important for our forests, hazelnut groves, and tea gardens, which are our sources of life... Mr. Pekdemir, the Black Sea is also very important in terms of water resources... The Black Sea is also very important for thousands of bird species, bears, wolves, goats, wild boars, deer, butterflies, and bees... The Black Sea's forests are also very important for its anchovies... If those forests are destroyed, there will be no anchovies left, and whiting and horse mackerel will not be able to survive... The Black Sea's highlands and pastures are also very important for animal husbandry... Mr. Pekdemir, when you tear the Black Sea's mountains, forests, highlands, and pastures to pieces with hundreds of thousands of tons of dynamite, you destroy life. You cannot keep that soil in that geography.

The areas where actual production takes place are not as large as claimed! There are not hundreds of thousands of licenses, but tens of thousands! May God bless you, Mr. Pekdemir... How you have put our minds at ease!

Mr. Pekdemir explains these things, but he does not explain how a 90,000-decare area at the summit of Mount Madra, the lifeblood of the Aegean,                   

was transferred to Nurol Holding... Explain how you transferred Türkmendağı to CVK Holding despite all the objections of the villagers in İvrindi, Mr. Pekdemir... Give an account of how you handed over the Kazdağları ecosystem to Cengiz, Nurol, and Koza holdings... Explain how you turn a blind eye to Cengiz Holding cutting down hundreds of thousands of trees in Bayramiç today and settling on the Kocabaş, the most important water source of that region, Mr. Pekdemir... 

We know what you have done and what you will do from Erzincan-İliç-Çöpler, Balıkesir-İvrindi-Madra,                  

Uşak-Kışladağ, Artvin-Cerattepe, and Çanakkale-Lapseki... You are like zombies who have lost their humanity, seeing every inch of this country's soil as a "mineral resource"... 

If you were so eager to provide explanations, why were you silent when you came to the Research Commission established in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey after the İliç-Çöpler disaster... Why, in the face of the persistent questions of the deputies during the hours-long commission meetings, could you say nothing other than, "We have no responsibility... We do not inspect that place..."!

IMPERIALIST PLUNDER ORDER

Turkey is a country targeted by the imperialist plunder and looting order... It is at the very top of the list of countries that are wanted to be exploited... They are waiting for the right time and the right period... As Ahmet Şentürk, who once served as the manager of the Canadian Alamos Gold that massacred Kazdağları, said, "We have been waiting for 30 years, we can wait another 3-5 months"... They are waiting for the right time and period with the same insidiousness...

US President Trump first expressed his desire to buy Greenland in 2019 and had repeated this recently... Greenland, which has rich rare earth elements, uranium, gold, and hydrocarbon reserves, is considered a critical region in the US's competition with China and the European Union... The competition and natural resource wars between imperialist countries are not new... They have been going on for centuries... Trump wants Canada alongside Greenland.

As is known, Trump had also set his sights on Ukraine's mines... He even expressed this desire by openly scolding Zelensky, whom he hosted at the White House on February 28, 2025.

The same Trump also wants Eskişehir-Beylikova... They say there are Rare Earth Elements there...                                       

The extraction and processing of these elements cause serious environmental problems and require high costs... In short, producing what are called REEs (Rare Earth Elements) causes great damage to nature and the living environment. Just as in gold-silver-copper-nickel mining, waters are poisoned, millions of tons of toxic waste are created, and nature is destroyed in a way that it can never return to its former state...

However, the issue is far beyond Rare Earth Elements and Beylikova... The issue is at the very center of colonial mining that concerns Turkey's water and food security... Because it is not just Eskişehir-Beylikova, what they want is the entirety of Turkey...  

Imperialist countries, their international cartels, and their companies have always wanted it for centuries:                           

They took it by seizing it, by occupying it, by killing, or by supporting collaborator governments... Today, a similar process continues all over the world...

When we look at Turkey today, Canadian El Dorado Gold wants Uşak, İzmir, Samsun, and Giresun... Centerra Gold, which tears apart mountains in Kayseri-Develi, has set its sights on the unique forests of the Western Black Sea... The entire Black Sea has already been declared an auction zone for international and local cartels... Another Canadian company, Alamos Gold, which had to flee Turkey as a result of citizens' reactions, sold its Kirazlı, Çamyurt, and Ağı Dağı projects in Kazdağları to Nurol Holding... Whose property are you transferring to whom... Nurol Holding and Cengiz Holding have already been wanting Kazdağları for a long time... Koç Holding, together with its partner, AKP member Ferhat Nasıroğlu, wants Kırşehir...

Cengiz Holding, which purchased 80 percent of the shares of the İliç-Çöpler Gold Mine, where the disaster occurred on February 13, 2024, from the Canadian SSR Mining for 1.5 billion dollars, is shamelessly trying to reopen that poison mine again... They also want the Munzur Mountains... Moreover, those who caused the Çöpler disaster in Turkey and have the blood of our 9 workers on their hands are preparing to carry out the world's most dangerous and toxic mining in Turkey's most challenging geography, such as Artvin... The list goes on and on... They have almost given the title deed of Giresun to the company of AKP member Cantürk Alagöz, who caused an environmental disaster in Giresun. They have handed over more than 138 thousand decares of licensed area to Alagöz... 

Turkey has already been in the grip of colonial mining for some time. But it is not enough. They always want more. They want all of Turkey to be declared a mining zone, and all its mountains and forests to be auctioned off. And they see no harm in this at all. 

THEY SET THEIR SIGHTS ON WATER RESOURCES

While Turkey's prominent holdings are chasing gold today, they have set their sights on water resources, which are Turkey's lifeblood. While Koç Holding, together with its partner, AKP member Ferhat Nasıroğlu, set its sights on the Kızılırmak, which is the water source for 18 provinces including the capital Ankara, Cengiz set its sights on the Kocabaş stream in Çanakkale, and Nurol set its sights on the waters of Madra and El Dorado on the waters of Uşak... 

Koç and his partner, AKP member Ferhat Nasıroğlu, who tried every way to open the gold mine that the people of Kırşehir strongly opposed, claimed the water of the Kızılırmak as if it were their father's property.

They write it themselves in the EIA reports... It is written that 130 liters per second are used in the Çöpler Gold Mine, and 57.7 liters per second are used in the İvrindi Gold Mine, which was placed at the summit of Madra...

ANATOLIA COVERED IN FORESTS

At this point, I would like to open a parenthesis and share the following information: Scientific and historical research shows that 4,000 years ago, 70 percent of the Anatolian geography was forest and 10 percent was steppe... Over the last two thousand years, and especially in the last five hundred years, forest areas have gradually decreased due to human impact. In prehistoric times and during the Ottoman Empire, Anatolia was seen as a source of timber, wood, and forest products for the Mediterranean. 

A paradox seen in all civilizations was also experienced in Anatolia: While using natural resources, destroying the life systems they are actually dependent on to survive.

Now, some are declaring a "mobilization" to open the world's most dangerous and toxic mines in such a valuable and strategic region in terms of the world's biological living assets.

Most of the nutrients in the ecosystem are in the vegetation rather than the soil, and they disappear with the clearing of the vegetation. Water transpiration from trees, a mechanism that returns water to the atmosphere, means that deforestation leads to a decrease in precipitation and an increase in desertification. Deforestation was a major factor in the collapse of many societies in the past. 

It is not possible to explain the destruction of agricultural lands and forests with reason or logic at a time when much more agricultural land is needed due to the increasing population. Deforestation, water scarcity, and soil degradation problems in the Third World cause wars there, and there is a migration of climate refugees from the Third World (underdeveloped and poor countries) to the First World (developed, imperialist, and rich countries) out of desperation.

ENVIRONMENTAL COLLAPSE TRIGGERS POLITICAL COLLAPSE

Today, just as in the past, countries that are under environmental pressure, overpopulated, or both, carry the risk of coming under political pressure or collapsing. When people are desperate, hungry, and hopeless, they blame the governments they see as responsible or that cannot solve their problems. They try to migrate at any cost. They get into land disputes with each other. They kill each other in endless civil wars. 

Turkey's northern line, that is, the Black Sea, will form the backbone of Turkey. This mountain range and forests, this green cover, will be Turkey's lifeblood in the global climate disaster. These forests and vegetation are also the food source for the fish in the Black Sea. Every pickaxe struck here, every act of deforestation, let alone pollution, this alone—that is, the effect of stripping the vegetation on the soil like skinning it—will make not only the Black Sea but all of Turkey uninhabitable.

We need to focus on much more important problems throughout Turkey. We are facing a Turkey that still cannot solve the garbage and recycling problem. There is the reality of villages and cities that still discharge industrial waste, sewage, and garbage into the sea and streams. These are not unsolvable problems and they are waiting for an urgent solution. Municipalities, governorships, district governorships, and local units of ministries should organize an effort to solve these. Municipal management or country administration should not be about chasing rent or paving the way for destructive projects aimed at making money for one's own narrow circle with hit-and-run tactics. What we consume and destroy is our country. It is the future of our children and grandchildren. There is no better place in the world to run away to. We cannot destroy the paradise we live in together. This has nothing to do with parties, partisanship, or political views. This has to do with being human.

This is the picture... Urgent measures need to be taken... Those who should take measures are busy with other things... They are passing law after law to pave the way for looting-plunder mining... The latest is the "super plunder" law accepted in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in July 2025 with the votes of the AKP and MHP. Forests, pastures, highlands, and water resources are being looted with laws, decrees, decisions, and urgent expropriations... They say they are doing it for energy, that we need mines... That we cannot live without the yellow metal... That we will be very rich...

Moreover, these steps are being taken while the forests, which are the most important source of water, are burning to the ground... 

Politics is busy with infighting... Life is being made a dungeon for dissidents with a management approach that would not exist in any democratic country... People's lives and the future of societies are being darkened with incredible accusations and arrests... The opposition is being forced to defend itself in this witch's cauldron...

TURKEY IS AT A DIFFICULT TURNING POINT

Turkey is at a very difficult historical turning point, a very difficult climate turning point, and while it should be determining strategies against global crises experienced in the world, in our region, and in our country with all the institutions of the state and all elements of politics, it is stuck in a blind fight. 

The time, energy, and resources of this nation are being unnecessarily consumed with a management approach that puts staying in power ahead of everything, even the survival of the country, and with petty political games. 

Oncology departments of hospitals are overflowing... The country has very serious problems... Cancer is spreading like the flu... Our children who are diagnosed with cancer at very young ages break the hearts of the doctors who face them every day... While an answer to the question of why should be sought, new reasons are being created...   

In summary, the colonial mining that Turkey is facing today is a very serious threat to our country. All regions of Turkey and the entirety of Turkey are the target. The ethnic division, internal conflicts, and anti-democratic management practices that those who prepare and implement these projects have applied in Africa, South America, and the Far East for centuries are the picture that Turkey is facing today.