Dimly lit halls, romantic dams, and 17 lucky people!

CYANIDE FROM BERGAMADIARIESI-23

And so much more!

Today it is seen that cyanide goldmines all over the countryhas surrounded and continues to surround it.

In Alacahan, Kangal, Sivas; at Bakırtepe, theOYAK, the aid andpension fund covering members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), is busy at work,as is KOÇ Holding, in İvrindi, Balıkesir, the renowned NUROL Holding, and in Muratlı, Çanakkale,companies affiliated with CENGİZ Holding are working tirelessly. is working,planning to poison the soil with cyanidein order to obtain gold,poisoning withcyanide.

Among these is the cyanide-laced goldmine in İliç, Erzincan.experienced at the mine environmental disaster; tons of cyanide-poisonedheavy metal-laden soil flowinglike an avalanche, reaching the point of poisoning the Euphrates River and swallowingthe settlements in theregion, eight workersworkers dying does not stop the cyanideusers.

The poisoners, in the environmental disaster in İliç, which resulted in the death of 9 workers and subsequently forced the closure of the cyanide facilityto reopen the deadly mine, for a handful of gold for the sake of, they are inciting the local people under the pretext of unemployment, and trying to convince the decision-makers at the highest levels of the state. They are struggling.

Regarding the disaster in İliç, the preparationdespite everyscandal revealedin theexpert report.

Even though 43 defendants are still being tried in connection with the cyanide gold mine that caused the death of 9 "people"on February 12, 2024.

(Erzincan-İliç-Çöpler cyanide goldmine disaster, cyanide-tainted soiltrapped under and died, Uğur Yıldız'sdeathPhoto of the day.-İbrahim Gündüz. Kısa Dalga.13.02.2025)According to researcher İbrahim G

ündüz's report,thesituation isAccording to the report; “after the disasterin İliç, the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor had three expertreports prepared. The first report was prepared a shorttime after the disaster, in March 2024.The responsible parties were listed one by one.”

“The second expert report was the most comprehensive one. Itstated that, along with the former and current Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Murat Kurum, 13 people were primarily at fault, and 26 people were partially at fault. The 262-page Expert Report bears the signatures of 9 professors from METU, 2 from Cerrahpaşa, and 1 from ITU, along withan AFADengineer.was present.

”(https://kisadalga.net/yazar/bir-yil-gecti-coplerde-acilar-hala-taze-aileler-adalet-bekliyor-119978?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

As if being rewarded, Murat Kurum became the AK Party’s candidate for theMarch 31, 2024 local elections forIstanbulMetropolitan Municipality Mayor.

Elecwhen he lost his seat, he was brought back to the "Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change."

(Sivas-Kangal-Alacahan cyanide goldmining site. In 1 ton of soilthat will be poisoned with cyanide, there is a negligible amount, less than 1 gram, 0.89 grams of goldpresent. Photo: Evrensel)

***

The harbinger of all these disasters and negative developments was, as is known, the events experienced at the "Ovacık Cyanide Gold Mine" in Bergama, which was intended to be operated and was operated, and the warnings made during that process.

Multinational companies like EUROGOLD and TÜPRAG the method brought by companies of using cyanideto extract small amounts of gold from the soilis a techniqueofopen-air/toxic chemistry that has now also been learnedby domestic companies.

Now, this ominous method is being applied all over Anatolia, and aareas that are newly acquired are pregnant with environmental and human disasters!

Governments, hopingto close their budgetdeficits through the toxic gold thatcyanide-using companies will extract, occasionally face reactionsagainst themeven if it pauses in front of them, it encourages them and stands behind them.

It does not hesitate to make legal regulations that will make their work even easier.

It can take, and does take, decisions that loosenoversight mechanisms.

To a certain extent, those established to protect the environmentare being The EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) system is being hollowed out from within.

How did we reach this point?

How were ears closed to warnings and reactions, and how did eyes become blind?

How powerful mustOh, the shimmer and clatter of that gold.

(2023, 2025-Republic of Turkey. Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum)

***

Even the deaf sultan has heard by now that all thesedevelopments began in Bergama.

The public's reaction and resistance, based on information, law, and environmental sensitivity, and spreading through charming actions, gave this resistance a great legitimacy.

The multinational capital, which wants to equip every corner of Turkey with toxic mines, found the local collaborators it was looking foralong with the workers, the State and the Governments alsowith the support they received from various levels, they knew that overcoming Bergama's green resistance meant, in this sense,contaminating the entire country with cyanideand adding to their wealth by taking the shortcut.

Of course, there were alsodifferences of opinionwithin the State levels; the public was following the events closely, the judiciary was able to make decisions in favor of the people and the environment, and opposition parties, non-governmental organizations, and the presswas keeping the issueon the agenda.

This situation wastroublesome for the factions that desperately wanted tosteal the cyanide mines.

They were being prevented from getting their hands on the toxic gold!

Those who wanted to operate the mine in Bergama the multinational Eurogold among the partners of the company first the German Metallgesellschaft, then the AustralianNormandy Poseidon withdrew from the project andthe Bergama environmentalists' buildings in Berlinwere demonstrated in front ofthe Dresdner Bank had cut off the loan it was going to provide, as well as itsvisible support.

At the end of 1991, for the creation of the enterprise's zoning plans,for following the application the company made to the Ministry of Reconstruction and Resettlement , this ministryas per procedure, from the Ministries of Industry and Trade, Agriculture and Village Affairs, Culture, National Education, Energy and Natural Resources, Finance, Health, Forestry, Transport and Environment Ministries, the opinionhad requested.

Despite thepositive responsesthat arrivedin a shortperiod of a fewmonths from all other ministries The Ministry of Environment'sinvestigation wascontinuing.

The reflection of publicsensitivity had crossedthe country's borders.

Moreover, the Bergamaresidents and the environmentalists from Izmir who supported them had previously taken the matter to the Izmir courts to cancel the secondary permits that had been granted.

At the head of thecountry, there was aDYP-CHP coalition government under theprime ministry of Süleyman Demirel. The Minister of EnvironmentIt was Doğancan Akyürek (1991-1993).

Probably at the request of the PrimeMinister's office, in 1992 in the Dışkapı district of Ankara, in the former Ministry of Health annex buildingused by the Ministry of Environment as its headquarters, apparently allthe Ministries' mat theminister and relevant general director level, a meeting attended by high-level executiveswasorganized.

(1992-Minister of EnvironmentBedrettin Doğancan Akyürek)

The then-Mayor of Bergama had also been invited to the meeting. Later, it was understood that the Bergama District Governor, Oğuz Berberoğlu, had also been invited to this meeting.

In a small hall, under dim lights, around a round table seatedthe meeting, which began with cheerful participantsat a high level, waslikely presided over by a very high-ranking official.

Representatives from the relevant Ministry, through their presentations, discussed the cyanidemine in Bergama-Ovacıkfor its operationnecessarythey were explaining how they carried out the procedures.

According to the General Directorate ofHighways,therewas no problem for traffic. The trucks carryingcyanide wouldsafely transport it to the mine.

The power lines had been renewed, and the transformers had beeninspected.The

Ovacık villagecemeteryhad been relocated.

TheMinistry of Cultureaccording tothe region, there were no assets that could be consideredarchaeological sites. Yet, right next to Ovacıkvillage,in Alacalarvillage, there were gold mine remains dating back to the Hellenistic period,and these caves were made to disappear overnightfrom sight.Ltd.

The DSI (General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works) had reservations regarding the "Toxic Waste Dam" but still found the damto be feasible.

(Bergama Ovacık cyan-ide goldmine's waste dam. They started by saying one would be built, this is the third one: It looks quite romantic, but it is full of poison. Photo: Evrensel)

The studies conducted on the subject by other state officials in turn were presented to the participants.

The atmosphere of the meeting was such that the state's entirereadiness regarding the "cyanide goldmine" waspreparations were completed, and the day after the mineitwas ready to begin operations.

It was as if everything had been finished, and it was time for the toxic facility to beopened. State institutions were conducting the finalreviews.

It was as if the public didn't exist!

Those who were supposed to make decisions for the good of thepublic, and who sat in those positions using the public'smoney, were able to make decisions without caring about the public.

The public had to submit to the decision-makers and their decisions!

However, the Ministry of Environment's,cyanidethe multinational company's controversial "Environmental Impact Assessment" report, evenI did not approveit.

"They'll approve it anyway," those who organized this meeting must have been thinking!those who organized this meeting!

However, scientistswho found this project veryflawed were constantly explaining their reasons to state officials and the publicatlength.

Legal challenges regarding the matterwere ongoing.

The local people's opposition cries were echoing all around.

Support and solidarity from every sensible circle for the marches and rallies were increasing.

While the situation was like this across the country, in this dimly lit hall with orders receivedfrom above, high-rankingindividualswere shaping the fate of Bergama and even the country.

Was this what they called the Deep State?

Seeing this phenomenon, the Mayor of Bergamacalled for a meetingrequested the floor from the administrator (likely from the Prime MinistryUndersecretariatofficial) and explainedtheir views.This meeting was wrong!

More

over While the Ministry of Environmenthad not yet issued its approval decision, and whether the facility would cause environmental damagehad not beenclearlydetermined,and while legal proceedingsregarding the matter were ongoing,while the project was being whitewashedand the decision to operate seemed finalized, how could the high authorities of the Stateof the Stateholdsuch a meetingand make affirmative decisions.

Moreover, the local peoplewereentirely against it. There were Council decisions taken by the Bergama Municipality in thisdirection.

Meanwhile, in that dimly lit environment, a person quickly stood up and said, “The Mayor is lying!”

“The public is not against this mine. The intelligence reports on hand are in thisahead”!

Thesewerethe words of Bergama District GovernorOğuz Berberoğlu.

Was there such a report,or was itwas hetasked withtalking, orwas the District Governor not tellingthe truth?

An icy atmosphere filled the room. The participantslooked ateach other's faceswas.

Everyone knew from media reports that Bergama and its surroundings werenot justseething, but overflowingfrom the container they were in?

(Bergama environmentalists, 1990s: They both read and wrotethey bothwalked!)

In thedimly lit hall where the meeting was held, no one had introduced themselves until that moment, or perhaps everyone already knew each other.

An elderly and maturelooking official stoodup and introduced himself.

Back then, Milliyetwas the representative of the Ministry of Forestry,which is saidto be dominated byenvironmental circles.

In his brief speech, he stated that the Mayor was right, and that the Ministry of Environmenthad not yet approved it, and that it was not scientifically proven, and was subject to legal debatefor a business where there are workssuch a detailed meeting was unnecessary and meaningless, hesaid.

Upon this, the meetingmanager closed the session. The participants dispersed.

***

Oğuz Berberoğlu, who was appointed to Bergama from the Ankara Gölbaşı District Governorate, stated in every setting that he was in favor of cyanide-leaching mining.Perhaps his reason for behaving this way was tofor taking orderswas

Perhaps because of thisthought and attitudeby his superiors as a reward, the Erzurum Governor's Officewas appointed to.

It was not every District Governor who was fortunate enough to be appointed to a higher office, the Governorship.However, he was not very well-liked in Bergama.

Based on reports in the press, it is understood that he did not leave a good impression on the public during the process

when he became the Governor of Erzurum either.It is understood that he did not leave a good impression on the publicduring the process.

According to an assessment by an Erzurum newspaper,wheneverOğuz Berberoğlu is mentioned in Erzurum, air pollution always comes to mind. Every twodays, newspaper headlines would always be about air pollution!

(https://www.gazetepusula.net/bana-vali-ismi-soyle-sana-kim-oldugunu-diyeyim/242458)

(Oğuz Berberoğlu: 1992-1993 District Governor of Bergama. www.sivas.gov.tr)

In the autumn of 1993, Erzurum provincein the villages of Yavi, attached toÇat, and Çiçekli, attached to Pasinler, during the PKK'sattack, 38 villagerswere killed. Following this,(https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/gundem/yavi-katliaminin-acisi-28-yildir-dinmiyor/2400828?utm) Oğuz Berberoğlu had failed to disperse the crowd that gathered due to the tension and reaction that emerged in Erzurum.

Intervening, who was previously the Governor of Erzurum and thenPrime Minister Tansu Çiller, bythe General Directorate of SecurityappointedMehmetAğar, and to Oğuz Berberoğlu, who was appointed as the Governor of Erzurum in his place, to calm the eventsfor the purpose of calming the situation, a highly respected person in Erzurumwas tasked.it was said that he applied to "Naim Hoca" who was a poetandthanks to Naim Hoca's efforts, the crowd that was about to cause an uprising had dispersed.(https://www.zirve2000.com/yasadi-derin-iz-birakip-gitti-2/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

Berberoğlu had left Erzurum in 1996.

***

This meeting held in Ankara also showedthat almost evAlthough allministries approved the matter, despite the hesitations of the Ministry of Forestryand the Ministry of Environmentthere was still no wordcoming from them.

The matter seemed to bestuck here!

The lower levels of the Ministry of Environmentmust have been showingresistance.Public pressure was intense!

Naturally, they were going to make a decision concerning the lives of thousands of people.

The upper levels of politics did not seem to want to rusheither, it appears.

In this context, despite the positive responses received from all other ministries in a short period of a few months, the Ministry of Environment’s examination three years had passed.It was

the year1994.

Thisprocess, at MTA and the EUROGOLD company, in the cyanidegoldsectorforyears workhad been and for years cyanide defended Geological Engineer Ali Vedat Öngör explains it as followsing:

"While an opinion was being awaited from the Ministry of Environment, in 1994, the Minister (DYP-Rıza Akçalı), in the face of public opposition to the company,there was a major backlashdue to intense news coverage in favor of the company in the media wedid not come outthat it would be very difficult to grant permissionhe had stated.”

“Upon this, the national pressA group of 17 people, consisting of press and television representatives, in September 1994month, were taken to the Waihi Marta Hill Gold Mine in New Zealand, owned by the Normandy Mining company,and through broadcasts lasting two or three days in the national media,a positive image was created (or ensured to be created) in the public eye.”

Who were these lucky people, I wonder!

The world'sthe oldest cyanidegold minethe Martha Hill mine, one of the mines of the damage it caused to the environmentand the laborresistancewas closed in 1952 as a result of the, and due to the rise in gold pricesriseit was reopened in 1988.it was reopened.

(https://www.engineeringnz.org/programmes/heritage/heritage-records/waih%C4%AB-goldmining)

At the Martha Hill mine, visited by these 17 lucky people traveling in New Zealand, the American company NEW MONT was active; this company would later merge with the Australian Normandy Company, the main partner of Eurogold in Bergama, and would sell the Bergama-Ovacık cyanideleaching mine, only to later sell itto the KOZA Company, owned by Akın İpek, who was tried for FETO affiliation.

(Waihi Hill cyanide in New Zealandvarious submine of the 2020s.)

***

And finally!

“In October 1994 by the Ministry of Environment, a “positive opinionwas granted. The approval of tailings dam projects and the supervision of their constructionwere required to be carried out by the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) (it was stipulated, but DSİ rejected this), however upon the persistentrequest of the Ministry of Environment (this situation) was acceptedby DSİ".

In this ominous success (!) tgreat contributionto being boasts V.A. Öngör, who continues to explain:

“Despite the EIA Regulationbeing issued,(Cyanideproponent EUROGOLD commissioned by the company(fictitious) Ovacık Gold Mine Since 1991, when the EIA report (to the Ministry)was submitted, there was no information at the Ministry regarding the environmental impacts of gold mining, and specifically about the tailingsdam, and there was noopinionhad not yet formed”.

“With the aimof correctingthis situation, the training provided by threeexperts from the US EPA (United StatesEnvironmental Protection Agency) studiesas a result of which Ministry officials became informed about the matter".

"Following the EIA Positive Opinion,during the periodbetween October 1994 and March 1996,thein order, approval of Waste Dam Projects from the DSI, site selection from the Ministry of Health,pre-emission and facility permits, along with Hazardous Waste Controlfrom the Ministry of Environmentpre-licenseand the Ministry of Public Works and Settle-mentConstruction Building Permits had been obtained from the municipality”.

(https://alivedatoygurmadencilik.wordpress.com/2018/01/06/ovacik-altin-madeni-bugunlere-nasil-geldi)

Sivas-Kangal-Alacahan: For a trace amount of goldalsothe soil that is being dug up

***

Todayall across Anatoliathe voices ofdissent rising, in the pastin a dimly lit hall in Ankara, regarding the decisionssought to be takenfor Bergama, how vital they werefor the environmental healthof our countryreminds us once again.

The warningsthat were ignored in thosedays, the scientific facts that werebelittled, the right to life that wasignored in the name of"development," todayareit appears before us with muchgreater costs.

Whilethe pain of the disaster in İliçis still fresh, cyanide-taintedsoil is beinglight of the soil screams echoing in the cold waters of the Euphrates, we realize once again that the issue is not just gold; it is the fate of humanity, nature, and future generations.

From the green resistance of Bergama to the presentday, this long story still asks us the samequestion: Will we choose the poisonorwill we choose life?

The answer to this question will determine, and is already determining, not only the fate of todaybut also the fate oftomorrow.

(Sources: (https://www.oyak.com.tr/oyak-sirketleri/sirketlerden-haberler/erdemirden-altin-hamle///https://www.evrensel.net/haber/582570/bu-kez-altini-sivasta-buldular-mujde-degil-felaket /// https://www.engineeringnz.org/programmes/heritage/heritage-records/waih%C4%AB-goldmining/ /// İbrahim Gündüz. https://kisadalga.net/yazar/bir-yil-gecti-coplerde-acilar-hala-taze-aileler-adalet-bekliyor)119978?utm_source=chatgpt.comhttps://alivedatoygurmadencilik.wordpress.com/2018/01/06/ovacik-altin-madeni-bugunlere-nasil-geldi////https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/gundem/yavi-katliaminin-acisi-28-yildir-dinmiyor/2400828?utm_//// https://www.zirve2000.com/yasadi-derin-iz-birakip-gitti-2/?utm_ /// (https://www.gazetepusula.net/bana-vali-ismi-soyle-sana-kim-oldugunu-diyeyim/242458)

Sefa Taşkın

Bergama/Izmir

11/30/2025