Amid political talks about peace and democratic openness in Turkey, ecological destruction continues to advance in regions with a Kurdish majority. Between October 1, 2024—the day when the leader of the ultra-nationalist MHP, Devlet Bahçeli, first signaled his willingness to engage in dialogue with the Kurdish movement—and August 9, 2025, a total of 2,207 environmental impact assessments (EIA) were requested in 24 provinces in the southeast of the country, according to the Ministry of Environment. , including numerous projects such as dams, mining, oil drilling, energy parks, and infrastructure projects in ecologically and culturally sensitive areas.
According to local environmental initiatives, there has been an increase in destructive large-scale projects in the province of Şırnak in particular, including deforestation, the expansion of military infrastructure, and the exploitation of raw materials. In just one year, 116 EIA applications were registered in the region, mainly for the construction of solar power plants, quarries, mines, and oil wells. Forty-nine projects were approved without further environmental requirements. In several districts, such as around Beytüşşebap and Uludere, springs have already dried up and rivers have run dry. Massive interventions in the water landscape have also been documented near Silopi and İdil.
Critics accuse the authorities of deliberately targeting regions of historical, cultural, and ecological significance. Planned dams and industrial facilities threaten, among other things, the archaeologically important Birkleyn Caves in Amed (Diyarbakır) and several nature reserves in Dersim and other parts of Şırnak. In the area around the Nerduş River, which rises in Mount Cudi, several villages are to be completely flooded.
The construction of a hydroelectric power plant and associated infrastructure also threatens dozens of settlements and religious and cultural heritage sites in Cizre, including the village of Şax, which was only designated an archaeological protection zone by the Ministry of Culture in 2024. Another example is the Silvan dam in the district of Silvan, whose construction would flood at least 50 villages and a large number of Armenian, Syriac, and Kurdish cultural assets. The Geliyê Godernê valley in the same region, a natural monument, is also affected.
Local environmental groups have long spoken of systematic ecocide in Kurdistan – an ecological war – and accuse the government of using the projects as part of a long-standing policy of security and displacement. They argue that this not only destroys natural habitats, but also undermines the cultural identity of the region. In Dersim, for example, the protected status of the headwaters of the Munzur River has been downgraded, which environmentalists believe paves the way for future economic exploitation. The region is considered one of the most biodiverse landscapes in Anatolia. Protests against the projects have recently taken place in several districts.
NGOs have recently been increasingly critical of the discrepancy between political rhetoric and concrete measures. They are calling for transparent, participatory environmental policies that involve the local population and take into account the ecological and cultural characteristics of the region. “The current developments contradict the political promises of a sustainable and inclusive dialogue with the Kurdish population,” emphasizes the ecology platform in Şırnak. At the political level, there is increasing talk of a peace process and democratic opening, but state intervention under the guise of energy and security interests is the reality—a sign of the opposite. “Instead of dialogue, we see deforestation, explosions, and the destruction of our livelihoods. There can therefore be no talk of peace here.”
Source: ANF News
