Demo against mining activities
ENVIRONMENT campaigners in Lefke demonstrated against mining activities that occur on both sides of the island last Saturday.
The protest was held to mark June 5 World Environment Day. It drew attention to pollution from the abandoned Cyprus Mines Corporation (CMC), which is the “biggest environmental disaster” on the island.
The Environmental Society of Lefke (ESL) president Ahmet Hızlı said during the protest that environmental pollution is at its “highest level all over North Cyprus”.
Mr Hızlı stated that the people of the region have been working “for years” to address the CMC mine pollution but that there is “no government vision” on this issue.
Lefke Mayor Aziz Kaya said that “no progress has been made for years” regarding the clean-up of the CMC area.
He pointed out that this is an “indication of the indifference shown” to the Lefke region.
While the Lefke region is an official local government “district”, there are still many “unresolved and gangrenous problems” he added.
The “struggle to show Lefke the attention it is due should be continued in different ways” Mr Kaya stressed.
Following the protest at the CMC mine gate in Gemikonağı, the demonstrators moved on to the Aplıç checkpoint to draw attention to mining operations on the other side of the border affecting both communities.
Hatice Benan, general secretary of the bicommunal Brussels-backed Cyprus Environmental Stakeholders Forum, stated that Cyprus’s ecosystem “cannot be divided into two by any border”.
Mineral pollution “continues to threaten human and environmental health,” she said, adding that her organisation “will always support the struggle on this issue”.
During the protests, Denizli-Gemikonağı Development Society president Türkay Fotalı, Lefke Foundation Board head Vehit Nekibzade and Lefke Tourism Society leader Nermin Şanlıdağ also gave speeches. The annual action was also supported by the Çatalköy Development and Culture Organisation.
Martin Marancos, of the ESL, said: “We were pleased to show our support for this very important issue of mining pollution, both from past facilities and existing facilities.”