Is there a 'We will stop electricity production' threat behind the olive grove law? Boss's letter revealed

The olive grove regulation accepted in the Turkish Grand National Assembly's Committee on Industry, Trade, Energy, Natural Resources, Information and Technology had caused controversy in Parliament. It has emerged that behind this proposal, which would open thousands-of-years-old olive grove areas to mining activities, was pressure from companies close to the government.

According to the report by Halk TV writer Bahadır Özgür, YK Enerji, owned by the Limak-IC Holding partnership—which destroyed nature to extract coal in Akbelen—directly wrote a letter to the government and issued a threat.

"GIVE US THE OLIVE GROVES, OR WE WILL STOP ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION"

According to what Bahadır Özgür reported, the letter sent by YK Enerji to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance's Privatization Administration contained the statement, "If the olive grove areas are not allocated to us, we will stop electricity production." The company also demanded that additional financial support be provided to them due to the resistance of citizens and the lawsuits they have filed.

The title of the letter was recorded as "Legal and Factual Impossibilities Regarding Yeniköy and Kemerköy Thermal Power Plants."

In the letter, YK Enerji claimed that current conditions were unsustainable and stated that the contract they signed with the state could be terminated. Furthermore, the company's demands included the restructuring of the "maximum settlement price mechanism" in their favor.

It was also revealed that the sketch of the Yatağan Thermal Power Plant, operated by AYDEM Enerji, was included in the text of the olive grove regulation bill. This situation points to a general plunder of olive groves, not just in one region.

With the law in question, not only nature but also the lives of citizens living in villages will be directly affected. The elimination of olive groves through the law also carries the meaning of "forced migration" for the villagers who engage in agriculture in the region.