Melike Aydın 

 

IZMIR - One of the women who criticize the discriminatory approaches to the fires in the region, DAD Izmir Branch Co-chair Nebahat Çelik stated that the fires were started both for the purpose of rent and to prevent returns to the region.

 

Although the fires in Dersim, Bingöl and Bitlis, which have not been intervened for days, have been brought under control in the region, fires continue in 10 different places at the Girê Bestkê point of the Besta region between Şırnak and Siirt. While citizens were prevented from responding to the fires that were not intervened, women reacted to the silence in the face of the fires.

 

‘It is a crime!’

 

Expressing that late response to fires and failure to take precautions is a crime, Aegean Environment Platform (EGEÇEP) Co-Spokesperson Seval Ekşici stated that fires all over Turkey are responded to late. Reminding that governments have responsibilities, Seval said: ‘’We have encountered a lack of infrastructure before. Even after the fire has started, neither timely intervention nor the declaration of a disaster area is possible. We are in a situation that THK (Turkish Aeronautical Association) passed on to the Wealth Fund and many of the air pilots have been dismissed, and it is not adequate. We are declaring all of these as crimes, not as no taking precaution.’’

 

‘Several permits have been issued for mine site researches in Dersim’

 

Stating that the public was trying to be directed by targeting someone in the fires in the Aegean Region, Seval pointed to the unequal attitude of the state. Seval said: ‘’Several permits have been issued for mine site researches in Dersim and its region. As they have tried in many places, we will be faced with zoning permits and cyanide gold prospecting permits. If the state is not doing what it is supposed to do, then the people should not be prevented from coming together and extinguishing the fire there.’’

 

‘Responsibles are the ministry and public officials who do not do their duty’

 

Stating that those responsible should be targeted directly in all fires, Seval said: ‘’These are public officials, especially the ministry, who do not do their duty. We think that measures should be taken to ensure the safety of not only people but also all living things. We are ready to take on responsibility.’’

 

‘There is no life when there is no nature’

 

Expressing that Alevis are a society of nature and that human is a part of nature, Democratic Alevi Associations (DAD) Izmir Branch Co-chair Nebahat Çelik said: ‘’There is no life when there is no nature. Our mothers get up and pray to the sun first, ask for help to those who are in trouble in an unknown place, then pray for the snake, the creepy crawly, and finally to herself. Nature is very important to us. When you see the cries of animals, tears one’s heart out.’’

 

‘Fires are deliberately started’

 

Pointing out that the fires in the region are part of the policy of memoryless and dispossession, Nebahat drew attention to the fact that fires break out in prohibited areas every year. Nebahat pointed out that there is talk of opening a mine site in Dersim and said: ‘’There is a rent there. On the other hand, whenever people protected their past, their lands, cities became uninhabitable. Whenever such things increase, fires or similar things occur. It is not spontaneous fires, it is deliberately started.’’

 

Call for sensitivity

 

Underlining that the sensitivity shown to the fires in the West should be shown to the region as well, Nebahat said: ‘’It is the problem of everyone who says they are human today. Wherever nature burns, it breaks the balance. We expect everyone to show sensitivity.’’

 

‘We have known the responsibles since 38’

 

Asiye Yağan, a member of the Izmir Dersim Associations Federation (DEDEF), underlined the importance of forests for life in the world and emphasized that they have known those responsible for the fires in Dersim since the 1938 Dersim Genocide. Asiye said: ‘’Preventing citizens who want to extinguish the fire is cruelty. Alevism philosophy is based on nature. Sun, water, soil are sacred. Forests are important for everyone.’’

 

‘We are ready to pay a price’

 

Stating that it is wrong to make an east-west distinction in the burning of forests, Asiye said: ‘’We feel sorry for Antalya, Bingöl and Bitlis, but when it comes to the east, they are dumb and blind. They are burning our house, whatever happens, we are ready to pay a price. Sometimes military areas are burned by the police for political thoughts. Many villagers have detected it.’’