Archaeplastida

Science, Industry and Technology Minister Faruk Özlü has vowed that he would withdraw a controversial draft on olive trees if it "harmed even one olive tree." 

"If I know that even one olive tree is going to be cut down because of this law, I will withdraw it," he said in the northwestern province of Düzce on June 4. 

Turkey witnessed a heated debate over the fate of its olive trees this week during voting on a production reform draft in parliament. Although some provisions were left out by the government amid severe opposition from various parts of the society, a number of key provisions remained the same the extent that "olive trees will no longer being subject to legal protection," according to opposition

A parliament commission, founded to discuss the contentious "Production Reform Draft Law," has decided to establish an "Olive Grove Preservation Board" following the removal of a controversial article that would ease the path to industrial activities on protected olive groves. 

The Turkish government has withdrawn a motion that threatened thousands of olives trees in the country following severe criticism from opposition parties and environmentalists.

Thousands of olive trees in our country are at risk of being cut down because of a draft law submitted to parliament on May 17. 

There is a giant olive tree right at the roundabout leading to Yalıkavak approaching from Torba or Konacık in southwestern Turkey. I never passed it without saying, "Thanks for your presence." 

I can never go past an olive tree - actually all trees - without showing some respect in anyway. But olive trees are different. 

A relatively brief but violent hail storm Tuesday in the region of Velvedo in Kozani, northern Greece, destroyed an estimated 70 percent of the area's fruit crop, according to local authorities, who said that the destruction has left farmers in despair.

The Ministry of Rural Development and Food presents the 7th annual Olive and Olive Oil Festival, featuring products from olive producers across Greece. Many different kinds of olives and olive oils, including medicinal olive oil for heart health, will be on display to taste and to buy.

"The Greeks are dying!" The post on Facebook was both striking and frightening. A good friend, a retired Greek ambassador with years of service in Turkey and now a member of a small, extra parliamentary Euroskeptic party, supported his gloomy proclamation with updated statistics. The number of deaths in Greece for January were double compared to same time last year, he wrote.

An oak located next to a 19th church in Western Bulgaria has the third-best result so far in the European Tree of the Year 2017 poll.

The venerable sessile oak by the Nasalevtsi church, near the Bulgarian-Serbian border, has received nearly 4900 points as of 14:30 Bulgarian time (EET).