A lawsuit was filed with the Council of State for the annulment of the Regulation on the Planning of Agricultural Production.
The lawsuit filed by nine environmental associations and two citizens demanded the annulment of the regulation as it is not a legal regulation in the public interest. In addition, since the open regulation has the conditions of unlawfulness and irreparable harm together, a stay of execution was requested without taking the defense of the defendant administration. On the other hand, the request for legal aid and trial with a hearing and the acceptance of the lawsuit were requested.
Ismail Hakkı Atal, one of the lawyers in the case, explained why the regulation is against the public interest in a statement to Yeşil Gazete:
“Just as the AKP turned the country into a fascist state where freedoms are destroyed and human rights are endangered with the deception of ‘freedoms and human rights‘ in the 2010 referendum, it is now trying to end the traditional production methods of our small farmers and animal husbandry in the countryside with the deception of ‘planning agricultural production’. With this legal regulation aimed at ending small farmers and livestock breeders, he wants to force small farmers who will not be allowed to produce to leave their lands and leave agriculture and livestock breeding completely under the domination of large industrial agriculture and livestock breeding companies.”
‘There is no provision to protect the rights of the villagers’
The plaintiffs against the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry include Adana Environment and Consumer Protection Association, Antakya Environment Protection Association, Iskenderun Environment Protection Association, Mersin Nature and Environment Association, Tarsus Environment Protection Culture and Art Center Association, Fatsa Nature and Environment Association, Ordu Environment Association, Muğla Environment and Ecology Policies Association and Muş Oak Association.
On November 13, Lawyer Atal made a statement regarding the lawsuit filed and said, “AKP claims that it will plan agricultural production with Article 13 and animal production with Article 15 of the regulation. When we look at both articles, the conditions for production permits are not concretized in any way, and there is no provision on giving priority to villagers who engage in small-scale agricultural production and animal husbandry with traditional methods, and protecting the rights of small-scale villagers against large industrial agricultural and animal husbandry enterprises.”
“If the Regulation is implemented in its current form, it is certain that provincial production quotas will be filled by large industrial agriculture, animal husbandry and fruit growing enterprises and small farmers will not be granted production permits. Article 13 stipulates that agricultural production permits will be issued on an enterprise or basin basis, a provision that will prevent the issuance of agricultural production permits to our poor villagers who do not have a financial registration but produce traditional organic production and sell their surplus.”
Reminding that the AKP government, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which issued the regulation, made a commitment to the EU in 2005 to reduce the population of farmers, villagers and livestock keepers living in rural areas from 35 percent to 8 percent in 10 years (from 25 million to 5 million in a population of 70 million as of 2005), Atal noted the following:
“The AKP has continuously impoverished small farmers and villagers by importing livestock and agricultural products from abroad, causing the local farmers and livestock breeders to go bankrupt, and has reduced the rural population from 35 percent to 15 percent. On the other hand, our rural villagers are also an obstacle against the 386 thousand mining licenses granted by the AKP between 2008 and 2023, with four mining licenses for each village, and the rural areas are therefore wanted to be emptied. It should also be noted that only 1186 mining licenses were granted in 79 years between 1923 and 2002 with the publicist policies that prevailed after the establishment of the Republic until the AKP came to power.’
State reminded of its duties
The necessity for the annulment of the regulation in question was pointed to the principle of the social state protected by the Constitution and the duty of the state to remove political, economic and social barriers in Article 5 of the Constitution. It also pointed to Article 10 of the Constitution, which states that “...No person, family, group or class shall be privileged”.
The case file also referred to Article 45, which states that “The State shall take the necessary measures to ensure that crop and animal products are utilized and their real value is realized by the producers”, and Article 48, which states that ’Everyone has the freedom to work and contract in the field of his choice“.
Finally, pointing to the ecocides in various parts of Turkey, İsmail Hakkı Atal made the following statements:
“Villagers in Akbelen, Kazdağları, Tokat, Afyon, Bergama and in Afyon are still resisting the occupation of energy and mining companies. Yesterday's (November 15) incident of Haydar Demir from İkizköy, who was detained by the gendarmerie for protecting his deeded field in Akbelen from LİMAK, shows that the ‘New Turkey century’ symbolizes an administration that tries to turn the peasant, who is the master of the nation, from a ‘master” to a slave."