(From Halk Okulu “People’s School” No.91, August 8, 2021, pages 19-20. Translated from Turkish)
THE CRIMES OF THE AKP
THE CRIMES OF AKP FASCISM, WHICH FOR 18 YEARS IN POWER HAS SUCKED THE BLOOD OF THE PEOPLE AND TAKEN THEIR LIVES AND PROPERTY
AKP FASCISM IS THE MURDERER OF OUR PEOPLE AND AN ENEMY TO NATURE!
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* The Presidential Palace Has Special Rooms, 16 Special Aircraft, Three Helicopters, The Ministers Have 417 Ministerial Vehicles, There Are Specially Designated Jets And The Largest Aircraft In The World Belong To Erdoğan!
TURKEY IS THE NUMBER ONE IN EUROPE WHEN IT COMES TO OFFICIAL VEHICLES AND SPECIAL PLANES!
WHILE FOR 84 MILLION PEOPLE THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE PLANE FOR PUTTING OUT FIRES! TURKEY IS ONE OF THE MOST BACKWARD COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD WHEN IT COMES TO PLANES FOR PUTTING OUT FIRES AND THE NUMBER OF PLANES!
* The AKP government has never been on the side of the people, science or solutions, when it comes to its preferences and priorities. For years reports and scientific analysis have remained on paper and mostly never carried into action. The AKP, enemy of the people and of nature, has destroyed nature for the sake of profit and plunder.
* Since the day the AKP government came to power, the slaughter of our country’s soil and of nature has reached a level never before seen. Nature has been opened up to capitalist plunder to an unbelievable extent. All the natural wealth of our country such as our forests have been surrendered to capitalism’s insane thirst for profit.
* In the period of the AKP government a number of amendments have been made to the law on forests, and areas needing protection, national parks, protected areas and the country’s forests as a whole have been opened up to unrestrained exploitation by pro-AKP and imperialist monopolies.
* The level reached by the plunder and the deforestation is close to being the root cause of the floods and fire in our country. Agricultural areas, forests, well-watered areas, seas, lakes, rivers, and even protected areas have been reduced to ruins.
* Earthquakes, fires and floods have neared disaster levels for the the people and have killed nature. The AKP government in its period of office has destroyed thousands of hectares of greenery. There have been nearly 40 amendments to the law on forests in the course of the AKP period. In the last eight years alone, 334,035 hectares of forest areas have been opened up to special enterprises for “the benefit of the public”. 739,000 hectares have been opened up to uses other than forestry. Thousands of trees have been cut down in the Black Sea area and the Kazdağlar (in western Turkey) for mining.
* In 32 provinces 112 fires broke out, the biggest our country has seen. On July 28 a law was passed in the Turkish parliament while our people were struggleing with the fire to save their lives, nature, their animals and their property. This law means that “tourism investors” are in charge of coastal areas and can establishe hotels and residences in forest areas if they wish. So the people benefit less from coasts and forests while these are at the mercy of tourism companies and construction firms.
* The General Directorate of Forests (OGM) as issued data revealing that when the AKP government came to power in 2002 there were 1,471 fires whereas by the end of 2020 this had risen to 3,399. In the same way in 2002 8,514 hectares were burned, wheres by the end of 2020 this had risen to 20,917 hectares, according to the data.
* The causes of forest fires over the last 10 years are obviously the AKP policies as enemies of the people and of nature, but these are covered by 47% of the fires being put down to “unknown causes”!
* In the last five years the areas burned due to wrong policies have risen by 72% compared to the previous five years. On average in 2,771 fires 11,819 hectares of forest were burned. In the six years from 2014 to 2020, 36,321 hectares of forest were burned, 60 million of our trees burned to ashes. After the fires it was said there would be trees planted but instead five-star hotels were built in a number of forest areas. One of them is in Bodrum’s Güvercinlik Bay, where building started even while fires were under way. When fires broke out in 2008, the AKP forestry minister had said that “there will be no hotel built, there will be trees planted”, but then an area was used to build the Titanic Hotel. A 700,000 hectare plot was destroyed for the sake of profit. Under 2B, forest areas were turned into plots of land where accommodation was built.
* The AKP has privatised the natural resources of our country both above and below ground, and it has also privatised the forest fires. According to agreemants made, commercial companies are paid money for fires. Money is paid out to them no matter how much it is our people affected by the burning of the forests. An hourly rate is paid out for flights and payment is promised to firms as a guarantee for any fires that break out. Because of the agreements with these firms, the fire-fighting planes of the THK (Turkish Air Foundation) and other equipment cannot be used.
* While the four corners of our country burn, and our people try to the best of their ability to save themselves, Aşçı, the THK trustee, turned out to be at a wedding. The agriculture and forestry minister Pakdemirli vilely stated, “If you see a fire, run” and also “there are no fire-fighting aircraft. Our President has issued an order and if God wishes we will get them.”
* Taxes and donations have many times been collected from the people but are not used for their benefit, they are used to organise fascism, AKP fascism shamelessly tries to get more money from the poor people even as they struggle with earthquakes, floods and fires.
* While the Presidential Office has access to a total of 16 aircraft, Turkey does not have an aircraft for fighting fires. While 400 million dollars were spent on a special aircraft, and the President, ministers, undersecretaries have access to planes for their own pleasure there are no fire-fighting planes to save thousands of lives, nature, animals and houses.
* In 2010 fires broke out at 13 places in Israel, and there was no hesitation on the part of AKP fascism in sending two aircraft, with the general director of forests Osman Kahveci supporting this without blushing. “After our Prime Minister gave the order we did not hesitate… There is fire in Israel…. It is a humanitarian thing to send two aircraft,” he said. Today while their own country is burning AKP fascism says “there are no fire-fighting aircraft.”
* Until a few years the THK had a fleet of fire-fighting aircraft that were praised from Greece to Israel for their help in dealing with dozens of fires. And suddenly there were none. Greece, which they were so proud of helping, has one of the largest fleets of fire-fighting aircraft in the region with 18 planes capable of staying in the air for four and a half hours.
* While the number of fires grows every year and the number of Forestry General Administration workers should be increased, their number has declined by 6,000 in the past six years. As a result of privatisation the number of forestry workers has declined and complicated the task of fighting fires effectively. It has resulted in workers being made to work overtime, increasing the likelihood of accidents.
* While AKP fascism watches our forests, our people, our animals and our plants burn, Turkey is Number One when it comes to special planes and official vehicles in Europe. Germany has 12, France has 14, Italy 11, Japan has two, Azerbaijan three special planes. Turkey has 16. Of official vehicles, France has 322, Britain 90, Belgium 72. Turkey has 417.
AKP FASCISM IS THE MURDERER OF OUR PEOPLE AND OF NATURE AND IS AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE AND OF NATURE! THE ONLY WAY TO PROTECT NATURE AND OUR FUTURE IS REVOLUTION, THE ONLY SOLUTION IS SOCIALISM! LET US ORGANISE, UNITE AND FIGHT TO PROTECT OUR HOMELAND!
