Corporations move in, land occupation begins
With the ‘occupation law’, domestic and foreign mining monopolies plundering natural resources have grown hungrier. The Canadians are preparing to occupy Samsun and the Kazdağları, while Koç and AKP figures are moving in on Kırşehir and Bolu.
Gökay Başcan
With the bill passed into law in July, described by environmental defenders, academics, and experts as the ‘occupation law’ corporations have begun to seize the country’s lands. National and international mining monopolies have accelerated their plunder activities from the Kazdağları to Samsun, and from Kırşehir to Bolu, to wipe out forests, agriculture, and livestock.
During its rule, the AKP repeatedly amended the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulation, hollowing out the permit and inspection processes for mining and energy facilities. With the latest omnibus law, all legal procedures were abolished, opening the way for total plunder.
Since 19 July, when the ‘occupation law’ came into force despite all objections from environmental defenders, mining monopolies have stepped up operations. Alamos Gold is trying to return to the Kazdağları it was forced to abandon, while Centerra Gold has set its sights on Alaçam in Samsun. In Kırşehir, local mining companies, Koç Holding’s Demir Export A.Ş. and Defaş Madencilik ve Sanayi Anonim Şirketi, a partnership between AKP Batman MP Ferhat Nasıroğlu’s Fernas İnşaat A.Ş. are seeking to exploit the area. Başkar Madencilik has targeted Mengen in Bolu.
AKP’s Alaçam Mayor Ramazan Özdemir said at a press conference that a request had been made to declare around 1,900 hectares in the Dürtmen Dağı area a reserve for mining exploration, that it had been declared as such, and that a subsequent request for an exploration licence had been submitted but not yet issued. The area is one of the key livestock and agricultural centres of the region. The company involved is the Canadian Centerra Gold and its local affiliate Öksüt Madencilik.
CANADIANS MOVE IN
CHP Alaçam municipal councillor Tayyar Tabak told BirGün he was calling for participation in a press statement to be held today at 13:00 in Alaçam Cumhuriyet Square. Tabak said the municipality had planned highland tourism in the area, noting, “The municipality itself has 200 dönüms of land. We were planning highland tourism, but mining facilities want to take over the area. They say 4 tonnes of water will be poisoned for 1 gram of gold. Alaçam’s water and plain will be poisoned. Our meat is famous, now acid will fall here and our livestock will be harmed.”
Members of the Western Black Sea Environmental Volunteers Platform and environmental defenders from many provinces gathered in Ağalar village in Mengen, Bolu, also targeted by miners. Peasants said a 1,900-hectare forest declared a mining site was to be the location of a quartzite quarry planned by Başkar Madencilik, which had been given a ‘no EIA necessary’ decision. They said the region’s natural structures were under merciless attack from capital. Locals added that recent plans for gold prospecting near Yedigöller had emerged and that Bolu Central, Mengen, and Gerede forests were now in the miners’ sights.
In Kırşehir, resistance continues against a gold mine planned for an area in Boztepe district containing the villages of Çimeli and Körpınar, which include farmland, pasture, and treasury land. The project is being carried out by Defaş Madencilik ve Sanayi Anonim Şirketi, a partnership between Koç Holding’s Demir Export A.Ş. and Fernas İnşaat A.Ş., owned by AKP Batman MP Ferhat Nasıroğlu. Niyazi Ekertürk of the Kırşehir Environmental Protection Platform said: “The gold mine site is 68 hectares, a huge area. They will dig pits up to 420 metres deep, build huge pools to extract gold. The chemicals they use will poison our soil, water, and air, so we oppose this mine. Prospecting has also been carried out in the Seyfe Lake area. There are 4 gold companies in the region with exploration licences. If Defaş’s project is approved, the other 4 companies will automatically follow their lead. They will completely destroy Seyfe Lake and the Kervansaray Mountains. That’s why we will resist this project.”
ARE THEY COMING BACK?
It has also emerged that some companies acted before the occupation law was even passed. As reported by BirGün under the headline “Take 1 billion dollars, give up the Kazdağları”, Alamos Gold whose licence was not renewed, had demanded $1 billion from the Republic of Turkey. It was revealed that a mutual agreement was reached, and the company’s arbitration case was suspended. The suspension one day after 1 July, the date the omnibus bill was first expected to go to the general assembly, drew attention. It is still unknown what promises were made to the company.
182 PROJECTS APPROVED
The surge in plunder projects since the ‘occupation law’ was published in the Official Gazette and came into effect on 24 July is reflected in EIA data. With the change in law, the ‘no EIA necessary’ phrase was removed from the site, and all projects are now recorded as either ‘EIA positive’ or ‘no EIA necessary.’ This change was also reflected in EIA announcements, with previous applications now receiving EIA positive decisions. Since 24 July, there have been 93 new applications, mainly for energy and mining projects. In this period, 145 projects received EIA positive/no EIA necessary decisions, 37 received EIA positive decisions, making a total of 182 approved projects, while only 39 were cancelled and one was deemed to require an EIA.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Şirketler devrede toprak işgali başladı, published in BirGün newspaper on August 11, 2025.
