Turkish police fire tear gas as anti-gold mine protests intensify

Anti-mining protests in southern Turkey turned violent on Wednesday with police firing teargas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators and their makeshift barricades.

Protestors are trying to stop construction of a gold mine in the ecologically pristine area in the Black Sea region, an AFP photographer said. Opposition daily, Today's Zaman, said that somewhere between 2,000 to 3,000 protesters were taking part and that police had also scuffled with demonstrators.

The dispute has been gathering pace this week, with protestors attempting to stop police from entering the site and setting rubbish bins on fire and lighting large bonfires in a bid to block construction work.

The mine, set in the Cerattepe district of the Artvin province, is being developed by the Cengiz Holding conglomerate.

Locals first began to mobilise on Monday morning after workers for the Cengiz Holding Company arrived along with police teams and private security. They then shut off roads and drove in some 300 cars to try to prevent police and construction workers from coming in, Today's Zaman reported.

"The people of Artvin are showing an extraordinary resistance," Green Artvin Association head Nese Karahan told Turkish Dogan news agency.

Two MPs from the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Ugur Bayraktan and Baris Karadeniz, have reportedly joined the protesters.

According to Today’s Zaman, Bayraktan on Tuesday began a simultaneous sit-in and hunger strike in front of the Artvin governor's office.

The Hurriyet daily reported that security forces were warning of injuries and had informed local hospitals to be prepared to receive wounded.

The plan for the gold mine in Artvin, initiated in 2012, was initially blocked by the Turkish judiciary following complaints from ecological groups.

However, the company appealed the decision to the Council of State, Turkey’s highest court, and new permission was issued by the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs last summer, prompting locals and environmentalists to start getting organised.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish government are very wary of environmentally motivated protests after grassroots demonstrations in 2013 against the redevelopment of Gezi Park in Istanbul's Taksim Square snowballed into one of the larger anti-government drives since Erdogan’s AKP party swept into power in 2002.