Bergama, a village 1 .5 hour from Izmir, with its natural beauty, is one of the attractions of Turkey. Now, a foreign company tries to destroy the natural treasures of Bergama, annihilating the livelihood of the population, by winning gold with a destructive method, using cyanide.
Imperialism is the enemy of nature and of mankind
Imperialism is the enemy of all human values and it destroys nature, just to enlarge its capital. This can also be seen in Bergama where “Eurogold” and its collaborators (and monopolies) are threatening life in an unscrupulous manner. But the people in Bergama do not remain silent about the destruction of nature. Since 1990, the population has been fighting with all its strength against the sell-out of their land, their livelihood, to the foreign capitalists.
The people are saying: “We are sold cheap for a few dollars.” The state authorities knew right from the beginning of the gold winning with the cyanide procedure that the population would be poisoned because of the waste products and the gasses, mixing with water and air. The lives of the people and the animals in the region is severely threatened. Because of the cyanide in the ground water, the harvests, the livelihood of the population, will be contaminated that much that the products can no longer be consumed and thus will be destroyed.
The people, fighting for 7 years against Eurogold, shouts the slogan: “We are the people, we will win.”
The people in Bergama are determined, and rightly so, to chase away Eurogold from the region. To express their rights, and to spread their call for justice everywhere, press statements are published and discussion meetings are organised. For 6 months, mass actions have been organised now. Action committees were set up to co-ordinate and to better organise several forms of action. Furthermore, the village population founded a People’s Council, joining the struggle against Eurogold.
The People’s Council is the true people’s form of organising. Word and action meet here. The People’s Council is the organisation where the people’s problems, and possible solutions, are discussed and where everybody has the right to speak. Decisions are made, and those who make them do their utmost to realise possible solutions.
The people is using its entire strength against the murderous gold winning through cyanide by Eurogold.
Several parties and organisations (HOP, DSP, CHP, ODP, KESK, SES, Ataturkcu Dusunce Dernegi) are helping to spread the People’s Councils to other villages. 4-5 villages participated in a meeting in the village of Pinar where the villagers decided to found their council. To ease the council’s work, tasks are delegated to the villagers. Together with the population, discussions are carried out, actions are planned. (For example: road blocks). Now there are already People’s Councils in 17 villages which defend the people’s rights in a disciplined way, saying “No”, resisting the exploitation of nature, the destruction of their environment and their livelihood and the threat against their lives by Eurogold.
Everybody who calls himself a human being should listen to the voice of the people in Bergama who defend the future of their villages and they should fight against imperialism and collaboration together with them. The problem is not just saving nature, the problem is the survival of the people as well.
The people in Bergama will not sell out their country to the imperialists.
“There is only one thing left to do: fight.”
(Hamza Kural, farmer, 32, from the village of Narlica)
“The winning of gold with cyanide will have a strong effect on our lives. We depend on farming, it is our only means of existence. The damage caused here by the winning of gold is indisputable. It’s about the life of the people. When they want to win gold here, there is only one thing left to do: fight – we will either die because of the cyanide, or because who fought against it.”
“We will not abandon this fight.”
(Huseyin Ozyali, farmer, 46, from the village of Cam)
“We want solutions on a democratic way. But the state is not listening to our voice. We are in a disadvantageous position. We will not leave our land, even if this will cost us our lives. We are prepared to do anything to get rid of this company which threatens our life and we will not give up without a fight.”
“The people will fight for justice.”
(Suleyman Bektas, farmer, 50, from the village of Cam)
“The fate of the people here can not be in the hands of those who work for the state. We will try the democratic ways till the end and if necessary, the people will fight for justice.”
