Erdoğan's National Afforestation Day message sparks debate on social media

In his message, President Erdoğan said, "We are members of a civilization that says, 'Even if you know that the apocalypse will come tomorrow, plant the sapling in your hand.' We see our forests not as a legacy left by our ancestors, but as a trust for our future generations. To ensure this understanding becomes widespread in our society, especially among the younger generations, we declared November 11 of every year as National Afforestation Day. We are working with all our might to make Turkey an emerald green country and to leave a more beautiful country for future generations in every respect. During our term in power, which is now entering its 23rd year, we have taken revolutionary steps in protecting and enriching our forests, just as we have in every other area of governance," he stated.

"WE ARE 1ST IN EUROPE AND 4TH IN THE WORLD"

Stating that over 7 billion saplings have been brought together with the soil through the afforestation mobilization, Erdoğan said, "We have increased our forest assets by 12 percent, reaching 23.4 million hectares. Today, we rank 1st in Europe and 4th in the world in afforestation efforts. Last year, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of our Republic, we established 'Republic Forests' in all 81 of our provinces with the slogan 'Breath to the Republic.' I invite you, our valued citizens who want to be a breath for humanity, to plant saplings at planting sites all across our country. With these thoughts, I celebrate your 'November 11 National Afforestation Day.' I once again congratulate our Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the personnel of our General Directorate of Forestry, our non-governmental organizations, and our volunteer citizens who work day and night to protect and enrich the green homeland and who carry out a relentless struggle against forest fires," he said.

"SO, WHAT RANK ARE WE IN CUTTING DOWN TREES?"

According to the report published in Sözcü, Erdoğan's video message sparked a debate on social media. Numerous comments were made on the video, such as, "That's why you made 85% of Giresun a mining exploration site, chief," "I hope I didn't misunderstand, is it not about opening forests to zoning?", "We are the plastic and migrant dump of Europe," "So, what rank are we in cutting down trees?", and "What rank are we in destroying trees? Sorry, sorry, we don't destroy them; we sell them to Canadian companies, and they destroy them."

Some of those messages...