Gathering at the foothills of Dorsîn in Amed’s (Diyarbakır) Pasûr (Kulp) district, the Democratic Institutions Platform and accompanying groups condemned the destruction of trees and carried out a symbolic planting action. A banner reading “Xwezaya me xwebûna me ye, em dev jê bernadin (Our nature is our existence, we will defend it)” was displayed. 

 

Representatives of numerous political parties, civil society organizations and ecology groups attended the event, where participants chanted slogans such as “Bijî berxwedana xwezayê (Long live the resistance for nature)”, “Stop the destruction of nature” and “We will not allow this devastation.”

 

Mehdin Aslan, an activist with the Amed Ecology Assembly, said tree cutting had now been added to earlier mining activities in the region. He said: “I have lived here for 30 years. I used to feel so happy whenever I came here because of its natural beauty. But now there is neither water nor nature left; they have plundered it.”

 

‘THE AIM IS TO FORCE PEOPLE TO MIGRATE’

 

Pasûr Co-Mayor Murat İpek stressed that the region was being transformed into a space for profit and exploitation by the capitalist system. “They don’t look at the beauty of nature; they only look at how to extract material gain. This happens everywhere, but it is strongest in Kurdistan. Yet Kurds resist this. When people hear the name Dorsîn, they think of its mountains, because Kurds have fought hard to preserve their presence here. Now a war is being waged on nature itself. They have plundered our natural spaces. No matter how you look at it, they are harming us. Their goal is to destroy nature and force people to migrate,” he said.

 

‘PEACE MUST ALSO INCLUDE PEACE WITH NATURE’

 

Deniz Yurtsever, spokesperson for the Amed Branches Platform of the Confederation of Public Employees’ Trade Unions (KESK), said: “Capitalism has waged a war on the ecosystem that all living species depend on for the past 100 years. We should not separate this from the other wars of the past century. This is one of the regions with the highest concentration of endemic species, yet it is being handed over to capital for plunder. They must understand that in the future there will be no water left here, and whatever water remains will be contaminated. The political authorities must recognize this. A new phase has begun today, but peace cannot be achieved solely with people; peace must also be made with nature. We are more justified than ever in our struggle against the destruction of nature, and we will prevail.”

 

The event concluded with the planting of oak and almond saplings in the area.