65-Year-Old Villager Cries For Olive Trees To Be Lumbered

- In İznik district of Bursa province, sixty-five year old Sevim Alptekin shouts, “Those are my children, do not cut them off!” The villager refers to over 70 olive trees that will be cut down within a natural gas pipe line project, which will destroy around a thousand trees along 13 km.

In the Boyalıca village, Bursagaz has launched works last year in August, for installing natural gas in the İznik district that fall into the company’s license of distribution.

Some 21 km of the route belongs to the Ministry of Forestry and Waters Affairs, while 13 km of the route is of personal proprieties, including a 7 km area full of olive trees.

Sevim Alptekin has revolted this decision resulting a massacre of olive trees, including 40 to 50-year-old olive trees, calling them her “light of her eye, children”.

“I am not against natural gas but the line should pass from another route, where the olive trees would not be damaged. I don’t want my kids to be cut off. How can people sacrifice these trees with this many products on them, how does their conscience allow those people?” called on Aytekin.

Alptekin has added that she has planted and grew these trees with her own hands. Then she hugged the olive trees, marked with red colour, and cried for them. The villager called on environmentalist NGOs and the Governor for support, to stop the lumbering.

According the villager’s husband Ali Aytekin, along with threes, the line will also destroy the historical Baghdad Bridge through which the Ottomans had been doing merchandise of spices. Aytekin called on the Council of Monuments.

Osman Sargın, Justice and Development Party’s Mayor of İznik,told that next week the Chairman of Bursagaz Company will visit the district and listen to producers. However, according to Sargın a change in the Project that has been already confirmed does not seem possible.

The Project in question has been launched, over the expropriation decision on behalf of the Botaş Company, signed by the Presidency and Council of Ministers on April 4.

(Photo)