They rolled up their sleeves to extract gold by breaking down natural rocks in the heart of Cappadocia, which is famous for its rock structures, which is a world heritage ”.
Central Anatolia Environment Platform (İÇAÇEP) has published a written statement regarding the gold exploration planned to be carried out in Cappadocia. “After Bergama, Cerattepe, Kazdağları, Maden Village, Tepeköy, now, in the heart of Cappadocia, which is a world heritage and famous for its rock structures, the miners have rolled up their sleeves to extract gold by breaking down natural rocks.
The Canadian firm, whose name is Centerra Gold, started its work by destroying the trees, which are sporadic trees and planted by the local people with their hands. According to what we have learned from the press, a company whose record is not very bright and alleged to cause 5 thousand people to be poisoned with cyanide in Kyrgyzstan poses a great danger to Cappadocia.
Central Anatolia is our region first and most affected by the drought caused by the climate crisis, and all of the drinking water in the region is supplied from groundwater and the water wells are in the immediate vicinity of the licensing area, and the gold mine to be extracted by the cyanide leach method has the potential to pollute groundwater at any time.
The local people say, "Are we going to show the tourists around the mine pit instead of the natural rock structures visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year".
As Ic Anadolu Environmental Platform, we share our findings and suggestions below with our components and the public.
It was stated in the press that 234 mineral exploration licenses were granted in the Central Anatolia Region by the General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs. The distribution of these mineral exploration licenses to the provinces of the Central Anatolia Region is as follows. Aksaray 2, Nevşehir 5, Kırıkkale 6, Çankırı 7, Karaman 8, Niğde 9, Kırşehir 10, Ankara 14, Yozgat 14, Konya 20, Kayseri 27, Eskişehir 39, Sivas 73
As the Central Anatolia Environment Platform, we expect the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies to be carried out meticulously by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and Provincial Directorates. Mine exploration permits should not be granted in protected areas such as forest areas, national parks, nature parks, etc., which we have frequently encountered recently.
Another important subject; Looking at the exploration licenses maps provided by MAPEG, the exploration licenses are very close to each other. By the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization for these mine explorations given very close to each other in the same mountain and area; Instead of having an EIA done one by one, the implementation of the "Strategic Environmental Assessment Regulation" published in the Official Gazette dated 08.April.2017 and numbered 30032 should be applied for that mountain and region.
The Rocks of Cappadocia Are Valuable Than Gold. The Region should be evaluated within the scope of STRATEGIC EIA, which includes its social cost.
Be the first to comment