Friday, October 08 2010
Forests have being destroyed for the sake of security of the gendarmerie stations. Thousands of thousands tree have been cut in the context of Turkish General Staff’s reconstruction plan for defenseless military stations in the Region, particularly in Batman.
Besides cutting trees, residents of Gümüşörgü (Timoq) Village in Kozluk district of Batman alleged that military forces set on fire the forests for security reasons. Villagers are being forced to migrate since their living spaces were extinguished.
Residents Süleyman Öztekin spoke to DIHA: "Our forests were already being destroyed for years by security forces for security reasons. Now, they found new reason to burn the forests. Our living spaces are getting decreasing. Besides environmental problems, no one tell us how we are going to support our families. Authorities should stop this massacre.”
There are 110 station constructions, which were given out to Mass Housing Administration (TOKİ) by contract in 13 cities’ rural area in the region. There are still 43 planned constructions which are waiting for contract besides 17 already completed ones. TOKİ will complete the construction in a couple years, according to the signed protocol between TOKİ and Gendarmerie Commandership. The forests in Ağrı, Batman, Bingöl, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Erzincan, Erzurum, Hakkari, Kars, Mardin, Muş, Siirt, Şanlıurfa, Şırnak, Dersim and Van will be substantially destroyed because of the construction work and security reasons.
