An Update on the Popular Uprising to Save Turkey’s Yuvarlakçay River

Ethan Gelber
3 May 2010

News Update: The development project described below that would have wreaked havoc on the pristine wilderness surrounding Turkey’s Yuvarlakçay River appears to have been forestalled — for the time being at least. Last week, Hamdi Akin, CEO of Akfen Holding, announced that the company has ceased plans for the construction of the proposed hydroelectric dam on the river in Turkey’s scenic Muğla Province. The company will now apply for the cancellation of its power generation license, Turkish TV and newspapers reported.

The decision came after months of protests by local residents and environmentalists — and just as the company is gearing up to be listed with the Istanbul stock exchange. We applaud Afken’s decision and support local groups’ call on the government to remove this project from the area’s development plans for good.

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On 13 January, we reported news of a popular movement in the Muğla Province of southwest of Turkey to forestall development of an ill-considered hydroelectric dam on the Yuvarlakçay River.

One of the many local protest marches heads to the source of the Yuvarlakçay River, near Dalyan, Turkey, for a rally

A growing consortium of local residents, businesses, organisations and municipalities, united under the banner of the ‘Platform for the Protection of Yuvarlakçay,’ had taken concrete steps to stop the project and to create new long-term safeguards for the riverbed, one of the loveliest and cleanest waterways in the region. These actions included 15 lawsuits filed against participating businesses and government institutions.

Now, after more than four months of protests, the recent news from courts has been very encouraging.

First, on 6 April, the First Court of Muğla issued a decision requiring the immediate cessation of all project-implementation activities by both the company and government institutions until such time as experts visit the area and make a final determination about whether an environmental assessment report is necessary before the project can go ahead as planned.

A cyclist brings a court decision from Dalyan to Yuvarlakçay and hands it to a lawyer, who reads the good news aloud to all assembled at the source of the Yuvarlakçay River

This decision countermands an earlier determination made by the Governorship of Muğla on behalf of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry that the Yuvarlakçay powerplant project didn’t need any environmental assessment report. The Platform believes an environmental assessment is essential and will show that the project will devastate the villagers’ lives and the eco-system in the Köyceğiz-Dalyan protected area.

Second, last week, a new decision by the First Court of Muğla again orders a stop on all actions as a result of a case filed by the Platform for the Protection of Yuvarlakçay against the General Directorate of Forestry. This order effectively rescinds the General Directorate of Forestry’s rental agreement with Akfen, the Turkish company behind the new dam, until the environmental report is complete. The rental agreement granted rights for 48 years to all water usage from the river for just 17,000 Turkish lira (approximately US$11,500) per year.

We congratulate the everyone involved in the ongoing protests. For now, the efforts are a welcome illustration that sometimes the people’s will can be heard.

For more information, read our first post about it, including details about how you can help.