Thousands of protesters held demonstrations against Cengiz Holding‘s plans to construct a mine complex in the Cerattape district of Artvin province, known for its forests and water resources, despite a police crackdown and a ban on people entering the provincial capital over the weekend.
On Sunday around 2,000 protesters, most of them women, holding Turkish flags and signs gathered at Otopark Square in a march towards Cerattepe were intercepted by police.
Riot police supported by a number of anti-riot water cannon vehicles stopped attempts by the protesters to enter the area where the mine construction is under way.
After the group’s attempts were blocked, police called on the demonstrators to disperse. When the protesters refused, the police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd despite warnings by some protesters that they had asthma. Dozens of people who suffered adverse reactions from the pepper spray were taken to Artvin State Hospital on Sunday.
A woman who broke her leg in a fall during the protests and a man who was injured after being shot by a plastic bullet fired by police were hospitalized. A police officer who was wounded by a stone thrown by one of the protesters was also hospitalized.
Large crowds who staged the protest aimed at drawing attention to the potential damage to the environment in Cerattepe chanted slogans against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) as well as Cengiz Holding, shouting, “Murdering company, leave Artvin.”
The police used tear gas against a group of about 1,000 environmentalists who tried to enter the city to join protests against the project. The group gathered near Cankurtaran after the Artvin Governor’s Office barred people from going to the provincial capital, the Doğan news agency said on Saturday. Police blocked roads to traffic to prevent entry.
The governor’s office also banned announcements from being made on public speakers, reports say.
For the past week, demonstrations have been held to protest the building of the complex in the Black Sea region of Cerattepe by Cengiz Holding.