Black Sea highlanders form 3-km human chain against gold, copper mine project

A group of villagers has risen against the establishment of mines to extract gold, silver and copper in Artvin after a court gave the green light to a mining company by controversially approving the mandatory environmental impact assessment (ÇED) report for the project.

Over 500 people formed a three-kilometer-long human chain in the eastern Black Sea province to protest the mine project as experts visited the site to prepare a report to be issued for the appeal trial, demanding the cancelation of the report.

The mine is set to be established at Cerattepe near Kafkasör, one of the greenest and most beautiful highland meadows in the country. The side is surrounded by the Genya Mountains and the Karçal Mountains further east – the latter are counted among the most important areas in need of protection in the country, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

The Energy Ministry approved mining projects in the area in 2012, including the extraction of gold with cyanide.

Artvin locals have launched legal action after the ÇED report for the copper mine was accepted following the tender bidding process.

Black Sea highlanders form 3-km human chain against gold, copper mine projectTrees ‘more precious than gold’

The demonstrators chanted slogans against the mine companies and opened several banners vowing not to give up without a fight. One of the banners unfurled during the protest used a play on words, saying, “Artvin’s surface is more precious than underneath/gold.”

Bedrettin Kalın, a lawyer representing the local associations, denounced the incoherence of allowing mining extraction in a region that has been declared a Tourism Protection and Development...