Thousands united against gold mine construction in northern Turkey

Thousands of people have continued to protest against plans to construct a gold mine in a pristine area of remote northeastern Turkey.

Provinces around Turkey, including in Antalya, Istanbul and Ankara, have seen demonstrations since Feb. 16, when police and gendarmerie forces fired tear gas at hundreds of environmental activists, locals, and representatives from advocacy groups protesting against the plan in Cerattepe, an upland area in the Black Sea province of Artvin.

"It is again the responsibility of the people of Artvin to protect our natural assets and forests, whose protection is defined in the constitution," said Green Artvin Association head Ne?e Karahan late on Feb. 18 during the protest, which started at a public square at 5:30 p.m. in downtown Artvin, where more than 2,000 people had gathered.

The huge crowd marched from the square toward the building of the Artvin Governor's Office, where police officers took extensive security measures. Representatives from the Green Artvin Association also took measures to prevent any clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

Expressing her gratitude for the nationwide support for their demonstration, Karahan said she and other environmentalists had been protesting mining activities in the region for 250 days.

"For around 250 days, we've been holding sit-ins with no discriminative statements," she said, stressing that the demonstrators had not engaged in any violent acts.

A governmental body dealing with Turkey's forested areas has denied allegations that trees have already been cut down to open space for the construction of the mine. 

"One or two dry and broken trees were removed as they blocked the construction work in the area. Unlike it was...