Eyfa newsletter about ecotopia

See it (with photos) on the website:
http://eyfa.org/eyfa_newsletter/ecotopia_roundup

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.on Ecotopia 2008

It has been a month since Ecotopia ended and things are finally starting
to settle down and get back to 'normal' in the office. With this
slightly delayed September newsletter, we thought it would be a good
idea to give a bit of an update on exactly what went down in Turkey.
After quick press releases about evictions and arrests, the Ecotopia
newswire went a bit silent. This newsletter will fill in those blanks
and also talk about what's next for EYFA and Ecotopia.

1. Introduction to Ecotopia Turkey, 2008
2. Vigil and Arrests
3. Eviction
4. Die-in and More Arrests
5. Press Heyday
6. Follow-up Action
7. The Future of Ecotopia
1. Introduction to Ecotopia Turkey, 2008

Ecotopia Turkey was scheduled from August 9-23, close to the city of
Sinop on the Black Sea. This year the program focused on the issue of
nuclear power, as Sinop is one of the locations in Turkey being
considered to host a 'Nuclear Technology Centre.' Local activists in
Sinop have been opposing these plans for years, but resistance to the
proposed plans had been decreasing. It seemed that many people in the
area had resigned themselves to the plants being built and believed the
government when it said many jobs would be created if only the nuclear
plant went ahead.

The camp started slowly, with only a few workshops taking place and lots
of last minute work getting done. However, regular visits from the
forestry commission and jandarma (military police) soon became a regular
part of camp life. Hardly a day passed without our uniformed friends
stopping by to ask for more lists of participants or to demand that an
anti-nuclear banner be taken down (from inside the kitchen!).

2. Vigil and Arrests

Ecotopia life had developed into a steady rhythm when a number of
participants joined together with SINYAD, a local anti-nuclear group, to
start a vigil outside the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency in Sinop. Turkish
law states that press conferences must take place in designated areas
and must also have prior permission from the authorities, so the
activists decided on a silent vigil that would not be against any law
but would still allow them to exercise their democratic right to freedom
of speech.

The first group of five people, including two foreigners and two local
Sinop activists, lasted only ten minutes. As they held a banner and
distributed leaflets outside the agency, the demonstrators were
approached by plainclothes police and forcefully removed without
warning. About half an hour later another group of five people started a
second vigil. They were also removed after about ten minutes.

Both groups were taken to a local police station where they were fined
125 Turkish lira for “not obeying orders,” article 42 in Turkish law.
But article 42 talks about “hanging a banner on a place where you
cannot; state governmental buildings, private places, company buildings,
etc.” Neither of these things fits with what happened, as demonstrators
were given no orders, nor did they hang their banner off of any
building. They were also informed they had not been arrested and were
not in custody, thus meaning they could not see a lawyer because they
were “not at that stage yet.”

3. Eviction

Having learned from our mistake, on the afternoon of August 22nd a
representative of Ecotopia went to the jandarma to inform them about
plans for a demonstration the next day. They were told that the
demonstration would not be allowed. Shortly afterwards the same
organiser received a phonecall saying that permission to hold the camp
was revoked. We would be required to leave the site by 6pm that evening
– only a few hours away.

After refusing to accept the eviction on the grounds that insufficient
notice had be given, the deadline for leaving camp was extended until
the next morning. At this point, a media team got to work informing
local, national and international press about the situation, while those
of us at camp started planning what to do next...

4. Die-in and More Arrests

We decided to peacefully resist any attempt to remove us from the site
before we finished the camp and cleaned up after ourselves. We also
decided that we wouldn't let a little police intimidation get in the way
of our protest plans. As uniformed and plainclothes jandarma officers
began arriving on site Saturday morning, we continued with meetings and
preparations.

By early afternoon many people were packed up and began travelling to
Sinop. Police presence in the city was heavy, with several people from
the camp being stopped and questioned on the street, and more of us
stopped and questioned upon leaving the campsite.

Just before 6pm people began to gather outside the office of Sinop's
(pro-nuclear) governor. After about five minutes of staging a peaceful
'die-in,' police arrived in a bus and physically removed protestors
without warning. This included several people who had not participated
in the action but were seen nearby, as well as the group's media contact
person and several people doing legal support. In all, thirty foreigners
from twenty countries and three people from Turkey were hauled away by
police to a nearby police station.

Whilst the demonstrators were held at the police station, requests for
lawyers, translation and phonecalls to embassies were repeatedly
ignored. Again, police said we were not under arrest and not in custody,
which meant that they could ignore requests to speak to a lawyer. The
lawyer came to the station and was not let in, and police told him that
the people inside did not want to see him. When police realised the
people in the station were communicating with the outside, they took
away their mobile phones.

Some groups were told they could only have food and water if they paid
for it themselves. After several hours small groups started to be
transported to the hospital, apparently to document that no one had been
mistreated by police. By 2am everyone was released and again informed
that we had never been officially arrested.

As we gathered together back at the SINYAD office we soon found
ourselves surrounded by more police. Seemingly worried about further
demonstrations, the police tried to convince us to take a bus back to
the campsite (the same site they evicted us from the day earlier!). When
we refused, they blocked us in the narrow street, pushing back at least
one person who tried to leave the area. Eventually they let up, allowing
some people to leave and sleep in a union office nearby.

5. Press Heyday

By the next morning it was clear that word had gotten out about our
actions. Articles appeared in a number of Turkish newspapers, several
television channels covered the story and press releases were posted on
Indymedia sites internationally. As we continued negotiations with
police, who were desperate for us to leave town, calls for interviews
started to come in.

In the next days press interest in the story stayed high. This was in no
small part due to the Turkish Prime Minister, Erdoğan, commenting on our
actions. Claiming that he and his party were the real, best
environmentalists, he critiqued those arrested for being no more than
“idle environmentalists.” Claudia Roth, a prominent Green Party member
in Germany, also commented on the actions, further helping the media
buzz. The action was the lead story on several news stations, the front
page of newspapers, and full page interviews too.

Activists from Turkey were particularly surprised when media outlets
owned by a company bidding for the nuclear tender started running the
story. The freedom of speech/freedom of assembly issue, highlighted by
the arrests of so many Europeans, made the story impossible for them to
ignore – especially with Turkish entry into the EU being high on the
media agenda. The media team worked hard to try and bring questions and
interviews back to the nuclear issue, instead of just talking about how
many toilet breaks we received or how we would have been treated in our
own countries.

On August 26th EYFA and SINYAD held a joint press conference at the
Greenpeace Mediterranean office in Istanbul. Sitting in front of a
banner reading “Nuclear Free Turkey Nuclear Free World,” group
representatives read a statement and answered questions from the many
reporters in attendance. Here are a couple of good quotes from the press
conference that featured in an english language Turkish daily:

“If it seems like we have nothing else to do it only shows our
commitment to the cause and that we are giving up our free time for it.”
(In response to Erdoğan's criticisms.)

“Nuclear energy is not a green solution, not a carbon safe solution, and
it will not make Turkey energy secure...Turkey should instead invest in
alternative energy.”

Articles in newspapers the next morning made it the fifth straight day
of mainstream media coverage of the story. The action had exploded into
something none of us could have expected when it was hastily planned!

6. Follow-up Action

Since the camp, the momentum in Turkey has continued. With results of
the tender for a facility in Mersin to be released on the 24th of
September, many groups have continued to make their voices heard. Here
is a short list of actions and events that have taken place since the
end of August:

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** Nine people fined for their participation in the vigil/banner action
are appealing. Work is also being started to bring a case against the
police for their improper conduct during the first and second arrest.
Please get in touch if you involved and have not yet documented your
experiences during the action and arrest.

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** Barisapeadal (Pedalling for Peace), a national environmentalist
cycling group expressed their thanks for our actions at a meeting in
Istanbul shortly after the camp. On August 31st they organised another
action with many other groups including the Farmers Union Confederation,
Ecological Utopias Association, the Social Democracy Foundation and
Street Children Association. From their press release:

“After the Prime Minister attacked environmentalists in his declarations
on the news saying that he is the best environmentalist in Turkey and
the other environmentalists are fooling around and doing nothing, a
group of environmentalists replied. They put a red carpet on the ground
with a chair to symbolise the authority and power of the Prime Minister.
During the press conference they said that they invited the Prime
Minister by email and fax to this demonstration to talk about the
environmental issues of Turkey but he didn't come nor did he reply to
the invitation.”

From one of their banners:

“Nuclear is safe, the earth is flat, Tayyip [the Prime Minister] is an
environmentalist, and donkeys can fly.” http://www.barisapedal.org/

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** The Green Party held an action on Istiklal Street on the 7th of
September, displaying banners that read “Nuclear Free Turkey, Nuclear
Free World.” This was part of an ongoing campaign leading up to the
tender deadline of September 24th.

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** Barispedal and KEG (Global Action Group) held an action on September
17th. This action was in front of Enka Construction & Industry Co. Inc.,
which was supposed to bid on the tender. They put windmills in front of
the building and banners read “Wind and Sun is Enough For Us” and “No
Nuclear, Yes Alternative Energy.”

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** On September 23rd Greenpeace and other environmental groups did a
die-in action in front of the Ministry of Energy in Ankara.
Simultaneously, climbers reached the top of a crane in front of the
building and dropped a banner staying 'STOP' to support the protest
happening below. Police arrested all 37 activists involved.
http://www.greenpeace.org/mediterranean/news/stopping-nukes-in-turkey

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** On September 24th another action took place in front of the Ministry
of Energy in Ankara. NKP (Platform Against Nuclear) stood out front with
gas masks and anti-nuclear slogans, protesting the nuclear tender.
During the announcement of the tender they were engaged in a sit-in
action. When they got news that only 6 out of 13 interested companies
filed for the tender, and only one submitted a proposal, they celebrated
the news in front of the ministry with live music and dance.

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This most recent news from Turkey gives new hope that Turkey will remain
nuclear free. On Monday September 22nd, requests from companies to
postpone the tender due to the recent economic crisis were rejected by
Erdoğan. This is the fourth tender held for Turkey's first nuclear power
plant, after the failure of the first three tenders.
7. Future of Ecotopia

After 20 years of organising Ecotopia, EYFA has decided it's time to try
something a bit different. Whilst we plan to continue organising a camp
on environmental issues each summer, the name Ecotopia will be retired.
Instead, the name of the camp will change each year, stemming from ideas
and collaborations between EYFA and local organisers.

Plans for a camp in 2009 are still being formulated. All ideas and
offers of collaboration are very welcome, so please get in touch if you
would like to be involved. EYFA is particularly interested in working in
countries where there is a lack of activist infrastructure, thus giving
a boost to the local activist community and local environmental issues.
We would also like the camp to work as a hub for networking, especially
in building links between eastern and western European activists. As
always, the camp should be DIY, horizontally run, self-managed event.

To find out more or to get involved in the organising process, email
shannon@eyfa.org