'The Seas Belong to the People' project begins! Minister Özhaseki's statement on 'illegal structures': 'Those in the position of occupiers...'

Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Mehmet Özhaseki, speaking as a guest on a live broadcast on CNN Türk, said, "We are conducting a study on the strip extending from Hatay to Artvin. Wherever there is illegal activity, occupation, or rent-seeking that prevents citizens from accessing the sea, no one will be able to stop our citizens."

"IF THERE IS RENT-SEEKING THAT PREVENTS ACCESS TO THE SEA..."

Here are excerpts from Özhaseki's remarks:

"We are launching a new movement. The name of our project is 'The Seas Belong to the People.' Our ministry has 3 main topics: Urbanization, environmental issues, and climate change. The seas belong to the people. We are scanning the coastlines. With the 'Seas Belong to the People' project, all illegal structures will be demolished. We have set two missions for ourselves. From the very beginning, we have devoted all our strength to the earthquake zone since the earthquake occurred. We began to be perceived as an 'earthquake ministry.' We are scanning the coastlines. With the 'Seas Belong to the People' project, all illegal structures will be demolished. One issue we are following deeply and making every effort for is our coasts and beaches. We are working on this. We are trying to do a few things. First, we are conducting a study on the strip extending from Hatay to Artvin. Wherever there is illegal activity, occupation, or rent-seeking that prevents citizens from accessing the sea, no one will be able to stop our citizens."

"WE WILL OPERATE THEM OURSELVES"

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is also opening public beaches. I have signed all the requests that have come in. We have an organization within our own Environmental Agency. We will operate the beaches ourselves. Let people eat and drink whatever they want and be comfortable. We don't have a major problem with the municipalities. They operate the beaches as public beaches. New public beaches are being opened. There is no permission for illegal operation; we will operate them ourselves.

"WE WILL CHARGE YACHT OWNERS 100 EUROS PER DAY"

There are thousands of yachts on our coasts. May God give more, may everyone have a yacht. But they were mooring wherever they could find. They were tying them to trees. We will place mooring buoys at 50-meter intervals on the coasts, a system we call buoys, and they will moor there. The number of yachts staying on the coasts is unknown. There are flags on them that we have never seen or recognized; we do not know them. By law, ships must discharge their waste, called bilge, in certain places. I ask the captains what they are doing. They confess that they dump it in the open sea. Environmental fines are actually heavy. We recently fined a ship 90 million. The captain said, 'I'll give you the ship for 50 million.' We will charge 100 euros per day from yachts moored to the buoys.

"I SAID 'THE MEETING IS OVER'"

Regarding mucilage, we are collecting the mucilage on the surface with ships and putting it into large sacks on land. The water drains in the sacks. We make the remaining material usable with certain chemicals. We have started cleaning the bottom of the water in Gölbaşı, Ankara. That is finished too. There are 8-10 groups that have businesses on the coasts in the Marmara region. They made a request, saying, 'You have very strict inspections, take a break from these inspections.' I said, 'If you are saying this to me, don't say anything at all, the meeting is over.' It is not just citizens, but huge companies that make these demands."

News Source: 12punto