Journalist Mehveş Evin has criticized in a column at Duvar English the “ill-planned investments” in the Black Sea region of Turkey in the wake of last weeks’ flash floods and landslides that killed nine people, with six of them being still missing.
The province of Giresun was hit heavily and the town of Dereli is now buried in mud and recovering.
“Turkey’s Black Sea region harbors dazzling geography, which much of its wildlife soon to be completely annihilated through ill-planned investments. Only a minority of local people protest and file legal cases. Some courts have ruled to halt the projects. But it is widely known that the government does not take the rule of law into account,” Evin said on Aug. 27.
“Hundreds of hydroelectric power plants (HPP) block the region’s rivers and streams. There are 38 HPPs in Giresun alone, and more are to be built. While most of these do not meet the criteria to limit the environmental impact, they are still being built thanks to the AKP’s “renewable energy” incentive. Some of the country’s largest conglomerates own HPPs,” she said.
