Study 3: Ecodestruction and the Right to Food: The Cases of Water ...

Starving the Future Study 3
FIAN interventions in Turkey and Ghana are well documented illustrations of gold mining impact on
water supplies and thus on the right to food of communities depending on these supplies.
Case 1 (Bergama/Turkey, 1994-2001)
Despite legal decisions and 8 years of struggle, the mining project goes ahead
The village of Kücükdere is located on a hill overlooking the Edremit bay, at the Turkish coast of the
Aegean Sea. The coast is famous for its wonderful natural landscapes. Millions of olive trees cover the
valleys and have been cultivated by local peasants for thousands of years. In Kücükdere, about 1000
peasants earn their living with olive cultivation. The means of livelihood of the local rural population are
threatened by a gold mining project promoted by an international consortium. Two subsidiaries have been
set up in Turkey, Tüprag and Eurogold. Tüprag has chosen Kücükdere , while Eurogold (which is
supported by large European Banks) wants to extract gold at Bergama (with its ruins of the ancient city of
Pergamon). The mining projects imply the destruction of agricultural land, of the environment and of a
historic site. The populations of Bergama, Kücükdere and of the whole region including the Greek island of
Lesbos have expressed their total disagreement with the mining project. Inspite of the decisions by
different courts including the Turkish Supreme Court (1997) and the High Court (1999) prohibiting cyanide
gold mining, Eurogold and the Turkish government ignored the judgements. Meanwhile Eurogold has
started its mining activities and removed thousands of olive trees. People fear for their right to food and for
their environment. Activists are harassed and put in jail.
Human Rights Impact
• Access to food and resources
The mining activities in the region of Bergama and Kücükdere threaten the livelihoods of thousands of
small peasants. Cutting olive trees, polluting essential food producing resources and leveling hills leads to
the eviction of people from their land and prevents them from feeding themselves. Peasant thus suffer
from the loss of agricultural land and olive trees. The means of subsistance of the rest of the local
population is also at stake insofar as tourism, a vital activity for this coastal region, is directly challenged.
The victims´ protest has not been heard. They even face severe harassment by parts of the authorities.
• Violation of the right to food - States´obligations
Gold extraction, ecodestruction and the destruction of people´s livelihoods has been started by the
companies inspite of legal decisions against the mining project. The concerned Turkish ministries and
the Prime Minister had ignored the judgements and encouraged the resumption of the preparation
works. Therefore, the Turkish state violated the right to food of the affected population by failing to
respect their access to food producing resources without proper rehabilitation and compensation. In this
case, the state is also violating the economic and social rights of future generations by authorizing long
term destruction and contamination of food producing resources.
Ecological Impact
The cyanide leaching technique, which is to be used in the Aegean mining project, represents a great
threat to the local environment. The technique promoted by the mining companies destroys topsoils
pollutes the local water table. Cyanide is one of the most toxic substances. Large pools of cyanide
contaminated water have to be collected at the end of the extraction process and even in normal
conditions, it is not realistic to expect a total control of the stored contaminants. The conditions,
however, are not normal. They are particularly unfavourable to the storage since Bergama lies within an
earthquake zone so that tailings pond would sit on an active earthquake fault line. Environmentalists
and the local population warn therefore against high risks that tanks might crack, releasing poisonous
liquids, which would infiltrate ground water sources.
FIAN International 122
June 2002