In the search for oil in the forbidden regions of Gabar Mountain in Şırnak (Şirnex), Turkey, forests that have been off-limits for 30 years are being decimated.
Along with the cutting of thousands of trees, water sources are being contaminated, and military towers are being erected in their place. Numerous villages located at the foothills of Gabar Mountain have been inaccessible for three decades and were evacuated and torched in the 1990s due to state pressures.
In the last few months, oil exploration in rural areas of Dara, Şerefîyê, and Bertül villages on the mountain has resulted in the felling of thousands of trees. Locals unable to return to their villages have raised concerns over the environmental destruction and called for sensitivity towards the issue.
Maruf Eriş (70), from Xurs village on the slopes of Gabar, revealed that trees are being cut under the guise of oil exploration all around the mountain. He nostalgically described how his village once thrived with 300 houses, vineyards, pistachios, various fruits, and livestock, but lamented that today those mountains are being destroyed. He warned, “They’ve left no stone unturned in Gabar. Everyone must show their reaction against this as soon as possible. We must not remain silent about this.”
Osman Duymak (72), from Deştlala village, criticised the false statements made by Şırnak Governor Osman Bilgin about allowing village returns. He recounted the forced evacuation of his village in 1993 and the ongoing denial of access, stating, “They’ve taken everything from us. We have nothing left.” He stressed the injustice of the military’s domination of the land and the urgent need for people to resist the obliteration of Gabar’s forests.
Ömer Yaman (73), from Gabar’s Meydîn village, expressed the need for people to speak out against the massacre, stating that hundreds of oak trees were cut in areas where oil was found. He described how 500-meter areas were cleared around each oil discovery site, and explained, “They used to burn them, now they are cutting them.”
In an interview for the Fall 2022 issue of Express magazine, Şırnak Bar Association President Rojhat Dilsiz and Agit Özdemir of the Mesopotamian Ecology Movement and Mardin Ecology Association reveal that deforestation in Turkey’s Kurdish majority regions is part of a larger strategy for depopulation and profit-making. Tree cutting, initiated in 2020 under military supervision, targets not only deforestation but also the profiting from cleared areas and preparation for mining activities. Legal protocols are disregarded, and trees are cut and sold, reflecting a grim profit-driven mentality extending beyond mere security considerations.
“There is not only a goal of deforestation but also an intention to profit from the deforested area, and preparations are being made for mining activities without allowing the area to regrow. We are receiving reports of mining activities in Uludere and Beytüşşebap. We have information that mining activities are being carried out in deforested areas,” Dilsiz stated. “In Şırnak’s forest cutting, there is no tender process, no leasing. The cutting is done by guards and soldiers, along with various state mechanisms, without spending any money, and they are making significant profits. All of this appears as a continuation of deforestation policies. The goal of this deforestation is depopulation,” Özdemir added.
According to Dilsiz and Özdemir, the Turkish government’s actions contrast sharply with its international obligations, such as the Paris Climate Agreement, and bring into question its sincerity in environmental protection. Restricted access to cutting areas, combined with conflicting official data, calls for independent reporting to unveil the true extent of this ecological crisis.
