Cyanide

Cyanide! A colorless, highly poisonous, toxic chemical with a scent reminiscent of bitter almonds. When cyanide is inhaled, the body absorbs it rapidly, disrupting cellular respiration and causing swift, fatal poisoning. For humans, ingesting 200 mg of cyanide or exposure to 270 ppm (or mg) via the respiratory tract is rapidly lethal!

Do you remember the news from a few years ago about the 4 siblings in Fatih, Istanbul, who committed suicide by mixing cyanide into water?

They had left a note on the door of their apartment in Fatih that read, "Caution, there is cyanide, call the police, do not enter!" The police and forensic teams had arrived at the scene in special protective suits and masks... They had evacuated all the residents of the building from the scene and cleared the neighborhood.

The landslide that occurred on the afternoon of February 13 due to the collapse of a cyanide waste heap at the gold mine in İliç, Erzincan, reminded me of that news. Let us begin describing the gravity of the disaster we are experiencing by recalling the teams that arrived in special suits and masks for 5 grams of cyanide...

Turkey's largest gold mine has exploded! A waste heap containing billions of tons of cyanide and sulfuric acid at the gold mine in İliç, Erzincan, has gone out of control; the sliding soil is moving toward the Euphrates River. In an area containing 39 types of carcinogenic, deadly chemicals, primarily cyanide, within billions of tons of waste, 9 of our miners are unfortunately trapped under the rubble... They have still not been found.

The place we are talking about is also built on top of one of the active fault lines! The world's third-largest, Turkey's second-largest; the Çöpler Gold Mine! Its owner is Anagold Mining. Its Canadian partner made its investment in Turkey because gold mining with cyanide is banned in Canada.

The waste cyanide dam was also built on an active fault line.

Moreover, it is on a fault line that could produce a magnitude 7 earthquake at any moment! Billions of tons of cyanide have accumulated at the İliç Gold Mine for 14 years.

"It is not just soil sliding, it is the cyanide field that slid," said Sedat Cezayirlioğlu from İliç. Nature activist Cezayirlioğlu, who has been trying to warn the public for 8 years and has filmed videos of cyanide-laced water being discharged into the Euphrates River, had also provided information that the mine would one day explode and that a second Chernobyl event would occur. Cezayirlioğlu, who started a struggle against the cyanide mine, shared with the public last year a video he shot at the gold mine in İliç, Erzincan, showing sulfuric acid being sprayed into the air so that the waste dam would not fill up.

He also fought against the request to increase the capacity of the pool containing 66 million tons of cyanide waste at the Çöpler Gold Mine from 200 million tons to 600 million tons.

While the soil waste sliding from the exploded cyanide mountain was moving toward the Euphrates, it was not the officials of the company that caused the accident, but environmentalist Sedat Cezayirlioğlu who was detained.

The situation is very dire.

Although Anagold issued a written statement claiming that there was no cyanide flow into the Euphrates River in the disaster and announced that surface water samples were taken from 6 points and there was no contamination, no official from the government has gone to the region yet.

A tweet on social media caught my attention.

Mustafa Sandal, whom I learned is from İliç, Erzincan, posted a tweet. He says;

"The brave son of Erzincan, Mr. Binali Yıldırım, whom I know, should go to the region to put everyone's mind at ease, take a handful of soil with his bare hands without protective gear, and bring comfort to both his fellow countrymen and his fellow citizens. This is what suits him!"

Let me have a request as well. Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Mr. Mehmet Özhaseki and the previous minister, Mr. Murat Kurum, should also go to the region together. Without wearing special protective gear, without wearing masks, they should take a handful of soil with their bare hands and make a comforting speech to the local people, the Turkish people, and even the people of the world.

Let our hearts be put at ease!