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 SİNYAD (Sinop Nükleersiz Kent ve Yaşam Derneği).*/
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
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