Turkish police arrests 30 activists for peaceful anti-nuclear protest
*Sinop (Turkey), 23rd of August 2008*. *This afternoon, Turkish police
arrested 30 international and local Turkish activists who took part in a
peaceful "die-in" action in front of the house of the governor of Sinop.
The police arrested also people that were just observing or standing
nearby.
*
**
*
The protests are directed against the plans to build a Nuclear Technology
Centre in the Sinop region. Participants are members of environmentalist
movements worldwide. They want to draw attention to the fact that nuclear
energy is dangerous, polluting and expensive. Instead of investing in
nuclear technology, Turkey should use its great potential for solar and
wind power, as well as increasing energy efficiency.
"The Turkish state seems very afraid of people learning how dangerous
nuclear power is. That is why authorities do not tolerate any protest,
especially when foreigeners are involved. We are seriously concerned about
the denial of freedom of speech in Turkey. ", says Niklas Hartmann from
Germany.
For more information, please contact 0090 5384943498.
For general information on EYFA, please visit
Find below the press release send earlier today:
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Press release of the 20^th Ecotopia gathering and European Youth for
Action (EYFA)
Police threatens Ecotopia camp in Turkey with eviction
/Sinop (Turkey), 23^rd of August 2008. *In the moment, the participants of
the 20th Ecotopia international environmentalist gathering at Sarikum
nature reserve, Sinop, on the Turkish Black Sea coast, are awaiting and
preparing for forceful eviction of their camp site by the Jandarma
(Turkish Police), which are already present with undercover agents and
several cars. The 70 participants from over 30 countries will peacefully
resist this unjustified raid. The offical reason for the announced
eviction was the announcement of the intention to take part in the weekly
permitted press conference of the local anti-nuclear initiative SI.NYAD
(Sinop Nükleersiz Kent ve Yas,am Derneg(i).*/
Approximately 10 armed officers, ordered by the governor of Sinop, had
already raided the camp on Friday to threaten forceful eviction if the
site was not emptied within 3 hours. Later, this deadline was postponed to
the next morning. Two days before, six participants of the camp
together with local activists were arrested during an action in front of
the office of the Turkish Nuclear Energy Agency (TAEK) in Sinop. After
only ten minutes of spreading flyers and holding a banner, they were
physically aggressed by undercover police without any prior warning.
They were held in a police station for several hours and fined for not
obeying police orders. Police have also shown supression towards locals of
Gerze town who approached the Ecotopia gathering to request solidarity
against the Thermal Coal Plant planned for construction in their town.
"We are shocked by the behaviour of the police and local authorities who
did not allow any peaceful protest to happen. They have also been
constantly threatening participants of the camp and denying them, as well
as locals, the right to publically express their opinion. Now they have
cancelled the camp with the order of governer just because we announced
that we would like to take part in an officially permitted anti-nuclear
protest. This is not what we consider to be freedom of speech! ", says
Lenka Kukurova, representative of European Youth for Action (EYFA), the
network that supports the Ecotopia gatherings.
The protests are directed against the plans to build a Nuclear Technology
Centre in the Sinop region. The 20^th international Ecotopia gathering is
taking place in Turkey this year, to support local movements to keep
Turkey free of nuclear power. Participants of the camp are members of
environmentalist movements worldwide. They want to draw attention to the
fact that nuclear energy is dangerous, polluting and expensive. Instead of
investing in nuclear technology, Turkey should use its great potential for
solar and wind power, as well as increasing energy efficiency.
For more information, please contact the Ecotopia spokesperson, Niklas
Hartmann, on
0090 5384943498 or by e-mail at ecotopia@eyfa.org
For general information on EYFA and the Ecotopia gathering, please visit
http://eyfa.org
http://ecotopiagathering.org/
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