disboscamento

The inhabitants of the Akbelen forest, in southwestern Turkey, are not giving up.They literally cling to trees, with the intent of protect them from deforestation which the Turkish company YK Energy, close to the Government, would like to complete.A land of approximately 780 acres which, if it were not for the obstinacy of the citizens, would have already been razed to the ground - as has happened in the last 35 years to 8 villages in the area - to allow an existing coal mine to grow even bigger .A tenacity that did not stop even under the blows of the batons and tear gas, tools that the Turkish gendarmerie used in an attempt to remove the activists. For the last 2 years, brave locals, both young & old, have put their bodies on the line to defend the forest's century old trees.Now they are being met with batons and tear gas by Turkish gendarmerie who are protecting the interests of the coal industry, and not local people. pic.twitter.com/urRJfoISoY — Beyond Fossil Fuels (@B...