Turkey’s environmental advocates push for water protection and new eco‑crime law ahead of World Environment Day

On the occasion of World Environment Day (June 5), Ömer Şan, president of the AKK Environmental and Climate Council, warned that mismanagement of water resources and climate‑related interventions threaten life across Turkey. He called for immediate measures to safeguard Ankara’s drainage networks, valleys such as Imrahor, and the Kızılırmak and Sakarya basins, urging authorities to halt projects that endanger rivers and groundwater.

The İzmir Bar Association issued a separate statement demanding that “eco‑destruction” be defined as an independent crime in the Turkish Penal Code. The bar highlighted severe pollution at Aliağa’s heavy‑industry zone, the Gaziemir radioactive‑waste site, and the deepening ecological crisis in the İzmir Gulf. It argued that high court fees and procedural costs impede citizens’ ability to protect environmental rights and called for legal reforms to make environmental litigation affordable and effective.