Young climate activists feel deterred by financial and legal pressures in Turkey
Young climate activists feel deterred by financial and legal pressures in Turkey
This summer, Turkish social media was buzzing with news of demonstrations to save the Akbelen forest, where protesters faced-off with riot police in effort to stop the expansion of a coal mine.
While the protesters were pushed aside and the coal mine plans proceeded, the Akbelen movement continues, often documenting its activities on an official X page, where photos and videos show activists holding banners with phrases like:
“Her yer direniş, her yer Akbelen” (Everywhere resistance, everywhere Akbelen) or "Doğa rant kapısı değildir” (Nature is not a rent-seeker).
Yet a closer look at these images shows few young faces among the protestors. The same is true for other recent acts of environmental activism in Turkey, which are often led by older and more rural segments of society with a focus on protecting territories that provide their livelihoods.
Younger and more urban citizens, meanwhile, are increasingly citing fears of possible legal repercussions as well as economic consequences among the reasons for their low participation in environmental movements. The trend contrasts with global climate activism, which is largely youth-led, but even amid current hesitations, some environmental projects are successfully taking root in Turkey.
“There is a fear of getting arrested,” said Mehmet, 28, who asked to remain anonymous due to political pressure.
“The youth cannot meet their financial needs, so they cannot join climate activism, so climate activism becomes something [for the] privileged,” said Yağız Eren Abanus, 27, a member of Mekanda Adalet Derneği (Center for Spatial Justice).
This comes as Turkey experiences mounting ecological problems. The nation is the top destination of plastic waste in Europe. It’s also the continent’s most exposed country to air pollution, and its greenhouse gas and CO2 emissions have doubled since 1990. Additionally, water pollution has increased considerably, especially nitrogen pollution in the country's surface water.
These environmental issues are compounded by an economic downturn defined by high inflation and currency devaluation. Moreover, people interviewed for this article said the impacts of increasingly autocratic policies following the 2016 coup attempt, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Feb. 6 earthquakes have weakened activism in the country.
Empty streets
Amid current conditions, the most restrained appear to be young people. Although many followed the 2013 Gezi Park protests on social media or through friends and family members, they were too young to take part.
More recent environmental struggles have also moved away from city squares, creating a disconnect between rural and urban areas, while accelerating a trend toward increased social media use in the place of public gatherings.
“Before the pandemic, we were on the streets to join protests or events, but after 2019, most of the events became digital, so people forgot about street activism,” said Esra, 28, a member of Yeşil Yaşam Derneği (Green Life Association) who withheld her last name. “People just separated from each other.”
Elis, 27, a member of the Polen Ekoloji Kolektifi (Pollen Ecology Collective), added:
“With the pandemic and then the earthquake, young people have not even been able to even socialize, as most of the education has been [distance learning],” she said, referring to digital broadcast courses instead of in-person education.
Fear of criminalization and mistrust of democratic institutions
At the same time, the Turkish government has fallen steadily in global standings on civil liberties, human rights and rule of law, ranking “not free” in Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2023 index, and 165 out of 180 in Reporters Without Borders 2023 Press Freedom Index.
Caner Altay, 21, a member of Doğanın Çocukları (Nature’s Children), said there is a general lack of trust in government institutions, and especially the judicial system.
“In Turkey, we see that in the last periods of the AKP rule, we have come to a period when all institutions and organizations have been rendered dysfunctional,” Altay said. “There is not a single judge or prosecutor left who can deliver an independent judgement.”
Tuğçe, another member of the Polen Ekoloji Kolektifi, also detailed the difficulties her group encountered when dealing with government administrations.
“When we want to organize a protest, it is legally sufficient to inform [authorities] we will protest according to the law, but usually governorships or administrative authorities decide that the protest should not be held for our own safety,” Tuğçe said.
She added, “We encounter numerous challenges, including detentions, prison sentences resulting from our actions and, in conjunction with these, intimidation that effectively hinders activism.”
Police violence or intervention is present in most street protests. During pandemic restrictions in 2020, provincial authorities used public health concerns to ban peaceful protests organized by diverse groups of people, including environmental activists. Such bans were appeared to produce a fear of legal consequences among potential participants.
“There have been investigations, detentions for making press statements, etcetera. These are actually things that scare young people,” said Derya Özturan, 27, a member of Kaz Dağları Direnişi (Kaz Mountains Resistance).
“Marginals” and “foreign powers”
Since the Gezi protests, the government has also increasingly labelled opponents as supporters or agents of “foreign powers”, especially from the West. This identification turns protesters into enemies of the state and can lead to a government stance that “marginalizes” popular environmental activism.
Addressing the Akbelen protests in early August, Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used the language directly, stating: “We are not interested in environmentalist-looking marginals, we mind our business.”
As a result of the restrictive political climate, global, youth-led environmental movements like Extinction Rebellion are rarely seen in public spaces or online discussions in Turkey.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry did not reply to requests for comment on climate change policies and environmental activism in Turkey.
Lack of economic resources
Another deterrence factor is Turkey’s economic crisis, which has been proceeding in various forms since 2018. Widespread financial precarity often leads Turkey’s youth to perceive environmental issues as a secondary problem.
“Young people can't join [environmental] groups because they don't have the means to attend protests or go wherever they want,” said Altay of Doğanın Çocukları. “When people are struggling to survive, it is ‘unrealistic’ to ask them to join environmental movements.”
Young people said they also face housing problems aggravated by the lack of affordable university housing, an exponential rise in rental prices and rising unemployment.
“There is pressure from all sides, but especially economic pressure,” said Elis, from the Polen Ekoloji Kolektifi. “For instance, students cannot afford to rent a home or even find a place to stay, making it very challenging for them to join ecological movements."
She added being an activist can also entail costs in terms of possible fines and lawyer fees for legal procedures.
The green hope
Still, against the political and economic challenges, environmental organizations in Turkey are also scoring some victories.
One organization, TEMA Foundation (the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion), has been rebuilding forests since 1992.
Others focus on content creation and raising awareness, like Ekoharita (EcoMap), which has developed a free online library of ecology-related topics. Ekoharita has also created a map of Turkey featuring all the ecological communities that exist within the country.
Some court victories have also been recorded by the Muğla Yeşil Yaşam Derneği (Muğla Green Life Association), which has filed 30 complaints against mining activities and has, so far, won 17 cases while 13 are ongoing.
On the youth movement, Doğanın Çocukları has made progress in integrating younger generations with environmental causes.
There are at least a few hundred young people in Turkey who devote part of their time to environmental activism and try to persuade those around them. One of them is Ramazan Cenk Akgül, 23, an independent activist and collaborator in various environmental organizations.
“We are working, we are fighting, we will not stop,” Akgül said. “It is almost impossible to make people conscious because we’ve had the same president for 20 years.”
He added, “Some people don’t want to fight because they are worried about their life, their kids, their money, everything. But … if nature is destroyed, if the world and the planet are exhausted, you cannot do anything.”
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This article is part of a series of environmental reports produced with support from the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Turkey Office, and in no way can be interpreted to reflect the views of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung.
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