The Şırnak Ecology Platform organised a protest in the city centre of Şırnak (Şirnex) on Tuesday to draw attention to ongoing deforestation in the Gabar, Cudi (Cûdî) and Besta regions. The protest started at Cumhuriyet Square and ended at Ömer Kabak Square. Participants carried banners bearing the slogans “The existence of nature is our identity” and “The existence of nature is our future”, while chanting “Bijî berxwedana Cûdî!” (Long live the resistance of Cudi).
The demonstration was supported by civil society organisations, alongside the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party.
Adnan Şenbayram, spokesperson for the Mesopotamia Ecology Movement, said “The nature of Şırnak is being destroyed. Peace begins when the destruction of nature ends. Look at the destruction in Gabar. We say to the state authorities that if you were sincere in saying “nature is not being plundered”, you would stand with us. We are calling out to them from here. Come and protect our nature with us.”
“We do not accept this. If there is to be peace, this destruction of nature must stop,” DBP Deputy Co-Chair Hüseyin Birlik added. “People are struggling today to protect their nature. This is a shame for the Republic of Turkey. We call on all relevant state institutions to end this massacre. They claim it is for security reasons, but this is no longer necessary. Mr Öcalan made a call to his organisation and, on 12 May, the PKK dissolved itself. There is now no reason for the state to use security as a pretext. Peace begins with nature, it begins with Cudi and Gabar.”
Sait Namdar, Şırnak Provincial Chair of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said “Trees are being cut down not for security reasons, but for economic ones. Logging our forests damages our ecosystem. As the CHP, we are calling for an end to the destruction of nature.”
“We applied to the Forestry Directorate one month ago,” Serfiraz Azad from the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) said, highlighting the lack of communication. “We are waiting for a response. We will continue our struggle through legal channels to prevent the destruction of nature.”
The protest concluded with a joint call on state authorities to halt deforestation in Şırnak’s mountain regions and take urgent steps to protect local ecosystems.
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Environmentalists plan campaign to halt extractivism-induced deforestation in Turkey’s Şırnak
