Thousands of Turks protested against 'environmental damage from Canada-owned gold mine'

Thousands of Turks on Monday participated in a peaceful protest outside a small town in western Turkey against environmental damage allegedly caused by a Canadian-owned gold mine.

Around 5,000 demonstrators joined a few dozen eco activists who pitched tents near the planned site since 26 July in what they call a "Watch for Water and Conscience" against the gold mine project, Reuters reported.

Nationwide fury against the site owned by Dogu Biga Mining, the Turkish subsidiary of Canada-based Alamos Gold Inc, has grown since the company allegedly chopped down four times the number of trees it said it would in an environment impact report.

The environmental damage caused by the mine will not be limited to deforestation, activists allege.

Environmentalists also claim cyanide will be used to extract gold in the project, which will contaminate the soil and waters of a nearby dam, they say.

The Turkish government denies the allegations that cyanide will be used and the mine will cause damage to the local environment.

But the Alamos mine and its planned location, the Kaz Mountains, have become a popular cause over the past few weeks in Turkey, with #TheKazMountainsAreAllOfOurs' and #TheKazMountainsAreTheNation'sSoil trending on Twitter. 

Turkey has a storied history of environmentalist protest, with green activists being a key element in the beginning of the 2013 Gezi Park protests that swept the country and prompted a violent security crackdown.

Protesters including elected officials on Monday protested on a hill near the planned mind site carrying signs reading: "Don't come if you like gold" and "We can do without gold, we can't do without the Kaz Mountains".

The site, located near the town of Kirazli in the northwestern Canakkale province, will harm the ecological balance of the local forest, deputy mayor of Canakkale Rebiye Unuvar said.

"In six years, they will leave after this area becomes arid and is turned into a desert," she said. "We will fight until the end to stop the eco-slaughter here."

While Dogu Biga claims just 13,400 trees were uprooted in the process of preparing the mine site - and that trees would be replanted once their work was complete - charity the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats (TEMA) said 195,000 trees had been felled.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has come under fire for a construction boom that has allegedly driven significant environmental damage.

A third bridge across the Bosphorus Strait and a colossal new airport for Istanbul have seen thousands of trees felled.

The government approved more than 36,000 mining, energy and other projects between 2012 and 2017 located on a total of 246,257 hectares of woodland, according to the Foresters Foundation of Turkey. 

Government officials say such projects are necessary for Turkey to lessen its dependence on foreign imports.

"While Turkey has the reserves to produce 77 of the 90 minerals that are produced in the world, it paid 8.5 billion dollars just for gold exports in the last year," said Bulent Turan, an MP for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Canakkale, according to Bianet.

"It is a pity for hundreds of thousands of citizens who make their living from this sector. Causing worry among all the mine firms is of no use for anyone."