The 'Cassandra' prophecy!

CYANIDE DIARIES FROM BERGAMA-12

The world, especially Western literature and scientific discourse, draws heavily from the legends of ancient Greece and Rome.

The "Oedipus and Electra" complexes, which Freud used in psychology to name the attachment of children to their parents:

The phenomenon of self-admiration, "Narcissism," derived from "Narcissus" (Narcisos):

The "Sisyphus effect" (the story of Sisyphus), which describes a repetitive and fruitless effort:

The goddess of cleanliness "Hygeia" (Hygiene), the god of sleep "Morpheus" (Morphine), the god of the open seas "Oceanus" (Ocean), and the Roman god of volcanoes and fire "Vulcan" (Volcano) are examples of these.

Among the most intriguing of these legends is the "Cassandra prophecy," which can be considered a guide for significant events from antiquity to the present day.

***

(A bust of Cassandra)

It, too, is rooted in Greek mythology.

"Cassandra" is one of the most understated yet meaningful characters in the legendary Trojan (Çanakkale) War, the main theme of which was poeticized by the great poet Homer of İzmir.

The Trojan War, whose story and heroes are recounted in this epic, was the legendary World War of that era!

In Homer's words, the Achaeans/Hellenes, arriving from the Greek mainland in their "hollow-bellied ships," would land on the lands of Western Anatolia to possess the wealthy Troy on the opposite shore and would eventually capture the city.

Led by King Priam, with powerful warriors such as his sons Hector and Paris, and his relative Aeneas, Troy was confident.

Its people were devoted, and its walls were thick!

The Achaeans/Hellenes were also numerous and formidable masters of war.

Their ships, again in Homer's phrasing, were so many that they "darkened the seas."

King Priam's beautiful daughter "Cassandra" prophesied that this war would "result in the defeat of Troy and the fall of the city, and that they should act accordingly."

She warned her father and brothers. "Beware," she said, "of the war!" 

"Seek a path of reconciliation!"

No one believed Cassandra!

(Cassandra's prophecy: The fall of Troy through the trickery of the wooden horse)

***

"Cassandra" had always wanted to be a seer/prophet since she was a child in Troy. 

Making accurate prophecies and predictions was a very important function in the ancient world. 

It was a highly respected skill. Because seers could see the future!

In those days, seers would make prophecies about the future to those who sought them at the temples of Apollo, the god of this craft, using enigmatic words.

Divination by examining the livers and intestines of sacrificed animals was commonly practiced in these temples.

The surfaces of these internal organs were textured and wavy. Any kind of interpretation could be made by looking at the complex lines found there!

Prophecies were almost sacred! 

The fulfillment of a prophecy was considered the will of the gods!

The Temple of Apollo at Delphi in northwestern Greece was the most famous of these.

Its prophecies were considered highly influential.

Kings would not embark on a campaign without consulting the seers there!

Following Delphi, settlements such as Didyma (Didim-Aydın), Claros (Ahmetbeyli-İzmir), Smintheus (Gülpınar-Çanakkale), Gryneion (Şakran-İzmir), Lairbenos (Denizli), and Sidas (Demirci-Manisa) were centers of prophecy in Western Anatolia that housed temples of Apollo.

The women who made predictions/prophecies in these temples were called "pythia."

The name of the stream that flows into the sea between Şakran and the city of Aliağa in northern İzmir, which we call the Güzelhisar Stream today, was "Pythikos" in ancient times, meaning "the stream of the seers."

Until recently, "fortune tellers" commonly performed this task. They still exist!

Today, social and political predictions are made by newspaper columnists, commentators, and consultants! 

Some newspapers have horoscope columns!

Among the public today, there are expressions said with a smile, such as "don't believe in fortune-telling, but don't remain without it!"

(No one believed Cassandra, who predicted the disaster.)

***

Apollo was the god of "light," but also of the seers. 

The temples dedicated to him were the home of this prophetic work.

As the legend goes, the young and beautiful "Cassandra," a unique Anatolian girl, wanted to acquire the gift of prophecy and begged the god Apollo at his temple to grant her wish.

"When Apollo saw this charming girl, he wanted to be with her."

The young girl appeared to accept this request and received the gift of "prophecy/divination" from the god, but after initially saying she accepted, she refused to be Apollo's lover.

Enraged by this, Apollo cursed "Cassandra."

According to the curse: "Cassandra will see the future, but she will never be able to make anyone believe it. She will never be a respected priestess. She will be humiliated as a woman."

Apollo's decree came to pass.

"Although she knew in advance that Troy would fall into the hands of the enemy and be destroyed, and warned her father Priam and her brothers, no one believed Cassandra or took her warnings into account."

Indeed, Troy fell through such trickery after the Achaean/Hellenic soldiers hidden inside the "wooden horse" brought into the city opened the gates.

The Achaeans destroyed the city. They killed its people and took them captive.

"Cassandra" was raped in the temple of Athena, the goddess who protected the city of Troy, and was killed in the palace of the Achaean King on the opposite shore where she had been taken.

This narrative is evaluated and used as a metaphor in modern science and social life with the phrase "Cassandra prophecy." 

This phrase expresses "a situation where a person makes accurate predictions about the future, but those around them do not believe them or take them seriously."

***

This phenomenon is frequently encountered today as well.

Social and political reasoning and warnings made by wise, knowledgeable, and experienced people are unfortunately not taken into account.

They are ignored.

Ignoring these warnings sometimes stems from ignorance and a lack of perception, but it can also happen because they do not align with the interests of certain circles.

Especially "new savage capitalism" ignores any scientific warning that will harm or reduce the profits it intends to make, and it does as it pleases.

It cares for nothing but its own interests.

Official decision-makers at the national level also follow this flow from time to time.

They turn a deaf ear to accurate warnings!

Especially in the "cyanide gold mining" that has been and is being experienced in our country.

****

When multinational cyanide gold miners, who have occupied the entire country within 30 years, first arrived in Bergama, the first place they entered in Turkey, neither the local residents nor the public had any knowledge or perception of it. 

Only intuition made them feel that the end of the matter would not be good for people!

In those days, in the autumn of 1989, Environmental Engineer Prof. Aysen Müezzinoğlu from Ege University came to the Bergama Municipality. 

She warned the relevant authorities about the dangers of cyanide gold mining.

It was a time when the Scottish CEO of the Eurogold company, a German, French, and US-backed Australian partnership, Roger Mc Cradock, and his advertisers were propagating how "healing" (!) cyanide gold was.

Prof. Aysen Müezzinoğlu's warning was taken into account. Bergama residents began to investigate the issue.

However, later, Prof. Aysen Müezzinoğlu suddenly disappeared. She did not answer calls. She did not respond to inquiries.

Her warning was valuable, but whether the reason for her subsequent silence was someone pulling her ear is unknown!

After Prof. Orhan Uslu, who prepared a fabricated EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) for the cyanide company in Bergama, left the Ege University Environmental Engineering Department Chairmanship in the face of intense criticism, it was seen that Prof. Müezzinoğlu was brought in his place.

When that happened, the matter was referred to the İzmir Chambers of Engineers and scientific assistance was requested.

As time went on, when "cyanide gold mining" began to be debated in the country, it was seen that scientific circles in some universities were also investigating the issue and beginning to raise their voices.

The scientific errors in the so-called "EIA" report prepared by Orhan Uslu from İzmir Ege University with the support of this foreign multinational company were the final straw.

(Scientists informing and warning Bergama villagers and environmentalists) above

Prof. Emür Henden and Prof. Gürel Nişli from the Ege University Faculty of Chemistry, Prof. Ümit Erdem from the Faculty of Agriculture, and Prof. Fethi Doğan from the Faculty of Medicine, with very important scientific contributions, scientifically demolished Prof. Orhan Uslu's "report whitewashing cyanide gold mining."

They were then joined by distinguished scientists such as Prof. İsmail Duman and Prof. İlhan Tanıllı from Istanbul Technical University.

These highly valuable scientists never left the villagers and environmentalists alone. They always stood by them against all kinds of pressure.

With their work and statements, the people of Bergama saw how right they were in their reservations against the toxic mine intended to be operated in Ovacık-Çamköy.

"Real science" was behind them.

It was understood:

"The lives of their children, their sheep, and their lambs were in danger."

"What else would this foreign company think of other than making money?"

"They would take the gold in the soil and leave, and they would leave them alone with mountains of poison."

"Whereas the fertile Bakırçay Plain in front of them provided them with a sufficient livelihood."

"It was necessary to oppose this trouble!"

(Year 1998)

***

And it was opposed. 

Meetings, rallies, and various peaceful actions were held.

Even a secret ballot/referendum! 99.9 percent of the mining villagers said "no" to the operation.

"No," "no to cyanide gold," were the slogans. 

But the cyanide company and the local decision-makers who helped them were persistent. 

They were going to do this job, they were going to extract the toxic gold!

When their concerns were not accepted, in addition to the "peaceful actions" they took, the villagers also resorted to "law." 

They won almost every lawsuit that would hinder the operation of the mine. They ran from court to court.

By hook or by crook, through opening and closing, and illegal operations, they finished the ore in the Bergama mine.

They got what they wanted!

Leaving tons of poison behind in giant pits.

Then, they would process ore brought from other places such as Balıkesir Havran and Dikili-Çukuralan in these pits and dump the remaining waste, and despite the ongoing legal struggle, they would increase the number of these toxic pits.

The region would turn into a very, very large poison depot.

 *** 

(Balıkesir-İzmir. Madra Mountain. Hüseyindede plateau. Cyanide mine.) 

Then they spread throughout all of Anatolia.

From Havran to Artvin, from Fatsa to Uşak Kışladağ, from İvrindi to Erzincan İliç, they descended upon the fertile Anatolian lands, its cool mountains, and its plateaus.

One of these is again a place close to these lands.

They began operating a new "cyanide gold mine" at the foot of the Hacıhüseyinler plateau in Balıkesir İvrindi, at the summit of Madra, the highest mountain on the Aegean coast.

The owner of this business was the TÜMAD Mining Company, belonging to the famous Nurol Holding, which carried out major projects such as the "İzmit Bay Crossing Bridge" and the "Ilısu Dam."

It also wanted to use hundreds of acres of pasture in the region as a mining site.

To facilitate the situation, the İvrindi District Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, with a decision made on December 25, 2024, decided that assets such as mosques, houses, barns, and sheepfolds existing on the pasture were built by the villagers without permission and ordered them to be vacated.

Thus, the way would be cleared for Nurol Holding's TÜMAD company to use the pastures as a cyanide mining area.

Thus, the number of cyanide gold mines opened in the mountains of my country, where flowers bloom and lambs graze, was gradually increasing. 

***

According to official documents, there are now 500 more places in line.

When cyanide mines, which are a very dangerous and risky business, began to be operated, bitter news naturally began to arrive.

The warnings of the Bergama villagers, the findings of the scientists, and the prophecies based on them began to come true one by one.

In Fatsa and Şebinkarahisar, streams were being poisoned.

The Kaz (Ida) Mountains, where the Trojan "Cassandra" once cooled off with cheerful breezes, were being gouged out.

Especially now, the toxic tragedy continues:

The giant pit created by digging in Uşak Kışladağ and the widespread toxic waste depot frighten everyone.

It is said that lambs are born dead in these lands. 

It is alleged that the area to be poisoned will be expanded even further.

According to data announced last year by the Uşak Provincial Health Directorate in a study organized by the Uşak Municipality, the rate of arsenic (rat poison) in groundwater in the Eşme and Ulubey region has increased between 70 and 700 times in the last 10 years.

(Frightening cyanide gold mine in Uşak-Kışladağ: Pits, toxic waste)

What happened in Erzincan İliç is a complete disaster:

During the disaster that occurred at the cyanide gold mine here on February 13, 2024, at 14:28, 9 workers named Kenan Öz, Adnan Keklik, Ramazan Çimen, Fahrettin Keklik, Abdurrahman Şahin, Hüseyin Kara, Mehmet Kazar, Şaban Yılmaz, and Uğur Yıldız died after being buried under the collapsing piles of cyanide and arsenic-laden soil.

This was one of the largest fatal disasters to occur in a gold mine using this technology in the world.

The Canadian "SSR Mining Company" and its partner, the famous "Çalık Holding," were operating this mine.

The situation has been referred to the judiciary. The trial is ongoing.

The responsible parties are being sought. Is it "that person" or "this person"?

Let's see if the real culprit will be found or if the blame will be dumped on someone else?

Or who is the real culprit?

(Cyanide gold mine pit and toxic waste that became a grave for 9 people in Erzincan İliç)

***

On the other hand, the TBMM (Grand National Assembly of Turkey) established an investigation commission consisting of 22 deputies, chaired by AKP Antalya Deputy Atay, including 10 AKP members and, among others, CHP members Mustafa Sarıgül and Deniz Yavuzyılmaz. 

According to information provided by journalist İbrahim Gündüz, in the preliminary report prepared by the Commission, "cyanidation work (of soil) was carried out in an area of 122,700 square meters in this mine, and 9.78 liters of cyanide solution (melt) per square meter per hour were applied to the area..."

In other words, "1,200,006 liters of cyanide liquid were pumped in one hour, and 28,800,144 liters of cyanide liquid were pumped in one day" at the Çöpler Gold Mine.

These amounts are terrifying!

So much poison has been poured into the bosom of the earth.

The draft report, consisting of 7 chapters and 518 pages, characterized this disaster in Erzincan-İliç as an "Accident Event."

TBMM Commission member, CHP Zonguldak Deputy Deniz Yavuzyılmaz, objected to the attempt to make the Erzincan-İliç mine disaster appear benign, revealing that the projects implemented there did not match the previous EIA reports.

(TBMM Commission conducting an inspection at the cyanide mine in Erzincan İliç where the disaster occurred)

The Turkish Language Association defines "accident" as; "a person, an object, or a vehicle suffering damage due to involuntary action or negligence, imprudence, and carelessness."

Whereas such disasters are in the "nature" or "creation" of this type of mining.

In other words, if such toxic mines are operated, such disasters will happen sooner or later, and they are happening!

(Report prepared by the TBMM Environment Commission regarding the cyanide mine in Erzincan)

With examples from other parts of the world and our country, "cyanide gold mining" is already an operating style that leads to such disasters.

This fact has been proven dozens of times:

Especially if the announced figure is correct, as in Erzincan-İliç. All these risks to extract 1.25 grams of gold from 1 ton of soil.

Poisoning a ton of soil for a tiny piece of gold!

Is it a matter of reason, or the profit of "new savage capitalism"?

***

The Bergama villagers and the courageous, invaluable scientists who enlightened them saw these things 30 years ago and warned them.

Using science, they explained the dangers of cyanide poison to people. They saw and knew the future.

The people of Bergama listened to them, but the country's decision-makers did not pay attention to them.

They turned a deaf ear to every cry for a handful of gold.

Of course, scientists, those who seek the truth, and those who question reality are not the seers of antiquity.

Humanity no longer needs mystical prophecies.

The only way is "true science," which is the real guide.

If the mythological "Cassandra," that unfortunate daughter of the Aegean land who suffered many evils for opposing her "god," lived today, she would also warn people and would certainly oppose toxic cyanide.

***

(Cassandra)

For these reasons, the real culprit of the disasters occurring in Erzincan and other toxic mines is this type of "cyanide mining."

Covering up that disaster by calling it an "accident" is another disaster.

The only remedy to prevent disasters is to close the operating ones immediately and not allow new ones.

Otherwise, the two hands of people, the wings of birds and butterflies, and the feet of squirrels and rabbits are at the throats of those who ignore this phenomenon.   

This is the prophecy of modern Cassandras!

(Source: https://kisadalga.net/yazar/rapor-aciklandi-2-faciadan-once-defalarca-denetlemisler-120423

https://kisadalga.net/yazar/rapor-aciklandi-1-meclis-komisyonu-sirket-yonetimini-sucladi-120152

https://www.egedeyenigun.com/kisladag-altin-madeni-daha-ne-kadar-genisleyecek

Azra Erhat (1984): Mythology Dictionary. p.183)

Sefa Taşkın

02.03.2025

Karşıyaka/İzmir