An anti-government NGO in northeastern Artvin province has been vehemently against a mining site in the area, claiming that all locals oppose it. However, Daily Sabah has learned that locals are forced to oppose and protest it because people with radical leftist links tell them to do so
Violent protests in February 2016 against a copper mine in the Cerattepe region of the northeastern Artvin province were likened by some to the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
Anti-government environmentalist protesters traveled to Artvin to join forces with some of the Artvin locals to stop the Eti Bakır Company from mining there, which it asserts is its legal right. Around 20,000 people live in Artvin city center.
When the company started to look for employees last year, more than 4,000 people applied for jobs at the mining site. Despite that, the anti-government Green Artvin Association, which organized the protests and anti-mining publicity, contends that "the people of Artvin" are against the mine.
Artvin locals who want to have a job at the mine have their own reasons. "I get paid well above the minimum wage. This way I can look after my family. Plus, I have insurance," Köksal Yalçın, a 37-year-old security guard at the mine in Cerattepe told Daily Sabah.
Currently, there are around 30 security guards working for the company in the region. Even though the company has the legal right to begin mining the site for copper, violent protests in February of this year led then Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to make a deal with protest leaders, namely the Green Artvin Association, assuring them that copper mining would not start until the judicial process has been completed.
The association has said that the people of Artvin stand together against the mine and prevented the company from beginning operations. However, Yalçın claims that he and others he knows of have been put under pressure to be vehemently against the Cerattepe project.
Cihan Keleş, another security guard at the Cerattepe mine, told Daily Sabah that he has been under fire from some locals in Artvin since he got the job in 2014. "They are full of hatred toward us because we work here. They say we should even not be served water," Keleş said, claiming that there is professional work to instigate people.
"I get insults at the bank and the hospital. A doctor once said that he did not want to treat me because I work at Cerattepe," Keleş contended. He also claimed that banners were forcibly posted on the windows of every shop: "They had to post the banners, otherwise they would be in danger."
Serdar Aktan, 33, echoed Keleş's claim, saying that he has seen quite a harsh reaction from certain groups of people. "They wanted my landlord to evict me from my flat. They are ruthless," he asserted.
PROTESTERS LINKED TO RADICAL LEFTIST GROUPS
Protests in February 2016 led to violent clashes with police. Peaceful people of Artvin seemed to not be at any of the violent clashes. According to security sources, some protesters who instigated the people and were at the forefront at the time are linked to radical leftist groups.
According to information compiled on the protesters, they were present at other anti-government protests across Turkey. Some of them also attended the Kobani protests in 2014. Propelled by a call from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the protests turned into a violent conflict with pro-PKK groups in attendance. Dozens of people were killed at the time.
In addition, some protesters with links to radical leftist groups have criminal records that show that they were involved in anti-government and anti-president activities.
Cihan Yayla, another security guard at the site, said that members of the association misinform the people of Artvin to turn them against the mine. "The people are misinformed. They do it on purpose," he claimed.
HDP URGES RESISTANCE IN CERATTEPE
As some of the protesters have had links with radical leftist groups, HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş in July 2015 posted a tweet on his official Twitter account calling on the Green Artvin Association to resist against the Cerattepe project.
Addressing the people of Artvin, Demirtaş said: "Know that you are not alone. Those who resist shall prevail."
Demirtaş's tweet of support for the association and the protesters raised eyebrows in Turkey. The HDP's support, which has been slammed by many for its failure to distance itself from the PKK, and the link between some protesters and the PKK led to the interpretation among many that the PKK may have some plans in the region.
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