Despite a long tradition of conservation, the country faces many environmental concerns as it works toward EU accession By Pavel Antonov Respect and love are the usual sentiments expressed toward nature in Turkey. The centuries-old tradition of caring for nature today translates into a desire to preserve the environment under modern pressures. But the work of continuing to take care of the country's environment faces several challenges, including heavy fishing in the Black Sea, the risk of major oil spills from busy oil-tanker traffic, other pollution from the oil industry, pressure from industrial expansion and an under-developed environmental civil society. As the country moves toward accession to the European Union, Turkey needs to come to grips with these, and other environmental challenges. The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) is looking at ways to assist in this process. Turkey has remarkably diverse landscapes, include mountains, rolling plains, meandering rivers, rich agricultural valleys and a craggy coastline. The country's territory of 774,815 square kilometres also possess remarkable biological diversity. A 1999 Environmental Performance Review by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development noted that three-quarters of the approximately 12,000 species of European flora can be found in the country. "Turkey has a unique geographic and geopolitical situation, a junction of old civilisations and beautiful nature, which we would like to share with Europe," Fevzi Aytekin, Turkey's environment minister said. Turkey's desire to share with Europe was made official in 1987, when the country applied for EU membership. Turkey has much in common with the EU candidate countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). For one thing, economic growth is a priority for the Turkish government and business sectors. Therefore, as in other economies in transition in CEE, there is a tendency to give secondary priority to environmental concerns. And there are some serious concerns. The European Commission's 2000 report on Turkey's progress towards accession lists several areas where the country must improve its environmental performance, including: air quality, waste management, water quality, nature protection, industrial pollution control and risk management, use of genetically modified organisms and nuclear safety. Heavy oil tanker traffic in the Bosphorus Strait poses a threat to marine life in the area. This twisting, nearly 40-kilometre-long channel, which cuts through the heart of Istanbul and connects the Black and Aegean seas, reportedly accepts 45,000 vessels per year. There were 155 collisions in the Bosphorus Strait between 1988 and 1992. Tanker accidents have released large quantities of oil into the marine environment of the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea, which is part of the Aegean, throughout the past decade. To minimise the risks of tanker traffic, Istanbul authorities are implementing a modern computer- and satellite-based navigation system in the straits. But many in Turkey believe the best solution of the problem would be the development of alternative routes for the fuel transit. Troubles with oil and water Pollution and over-fishing have put serious pressure on the Black Sea, a unique, closed marine ecosystem, which has very limited drainage into other bodies of water. The other countries around the Black Sea - which include Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia and Ukraine - have limited financial resources for cleaning up the basin. Along with problems caused by the fishing and fuel industries, economic and environmental concerns have also come into conflict in the case of the Ilisu Dam project, which would be located on the Tigris River, 65 kilometres upstream from the Turkish border with Syria and Iraq. The dam is part of a USD 1.52 billion development project - the largest such project ever undertaken in Turkey - intended to improve the energy sector, agriculture, transportation, communication, housing, education and health in the nine provinces in the relatively impoverished region of south eastern Anatolia. The Ilisu Dam Campaign, a Turkish organisation opposed to the project, say the dam will do serious damage to the water supply and aquifers downstream. The dam's critics point out that solid waste and wastewater from Diyarbakir and other cities are being dumped into the Tigris River without any treatment, the Environmental News Service (ENS) reported. Furthermore, the activists warn, the Ilisu reservoir will affect tens of thousands of Kurdish residents by flooding 52 villages and 15 small towns, including the ancient city of Hasankeyf. Turkish environmentalists are also at odds with the business sector when it comes to damage apparently caused by foreign business activities. In 1996, Greenpeace announced that, over a 25-year period, Shell, the multinational oil company, has systematically polluted a huge underground reserve of potential drinking water in an aquifer near the city of Diyarbakir in south eastern Turkey, where up to 2 million people live. Internal Shell documents leaked at the time to Greenpeace showed that Shell had pumped 487.5 million barrels of production water contaminated with crude oil, solvents and other chemicals into the Midyat aquifer between 1973 and 1994. According to Greenpeace, toxic waste from Italy has been dumped in the Black Sea. Between 1980 and 1987, barrels containing pesticides and lubricants were disposed in the sea near Samsun. Civil society faces big tasks "As part of our work in Turkey, we aim to assist the civil initiatives to protect the environment," said Tolga Temuge, Greenpeace campaigns director. In several instances, the local communities already intervened to protect their health and the environment, Temuge said. In one case, local residents won a court case against Eurogold for improperly operating a gold mine at Bergama. In Izmit the local public has been active for years against the Izaydash hazardous waste incinerator. The traditional Turkish respect for nature is a strong basis for non-profit organisations, businesses and the government to work together for the environment. Given the amount of nature there is to protect, and the variety of threats it faces, this civil society movement has a lot of work to do. Although Turkish environmentalists make themselves heard about important environmental issues, the country's civil society movement seems small. Compared to the population of 65.5 million, there are far fewer non-governmental organisations than in CEE countries. But the NGOs that do exist have large memberships, and they often receive donations from the business sector. "Support to nature protection activities creates a good public image for big businesses," said Esra Basak of the Istanbul-based Society for the Protection of Nature. Basak said the tradition of non-profit organisations in Turkey dates back at least as far as the times of the Ottoman Empire, when there were many charitable organisations. The state has significant influence upon the NGOs' work, Basak's colleague Deniz Tapan said, adding: "Although NGOs in Turkey do not come together and network easily, they reach a point of co-operation over big problems." Tapan said that capacity building is urgently needed by the NGOs. According to Gulay Eskikaya of the TEMA Foundation, the real development of an environmental civil society in Turkey only began in the early 1990s, and "the unity that is required still isn't there." TEMA combats soil erosion and desertification processes. Supporting civil society in Turkey would be one of the key activities of the REC if they open an office in the country. With funding from the European Commission's DG Environment, REC has launched a study to identify the needs and demand for REC services in Turkey and identify necessary funding sources to start operating in the country. Once these questions are answered, the REC will investigate the possibility of opening an office in the country, perhaps as early as next year, to join in efforts to support protection of the precious Turkish environment.

A Flottila of Greenpeace activists, above, is met by a police boat as they approach the Petkim chemical factory near the Aegean port of Izmir, Turkey, on Aug. 18. Nine activists were detained after they attempted to block ships bound for the plant, where polyvinyl chloride is manufactured.