Projects that deepen ecological destruction in many areas of Kurdistan continue to be implemented, while work on hydroelectric power plants and geothermal power plants, particularly concentrated in earthquake-affected regions, has been met with strong reactions from local communities. After Bingöl’s Kanireş (Karlıova) district, companies have now turned their attention to Gımgım (Varto) district of Muş for a geothermal power plant project. Authorities approved drilling operations within the scope of a “geothermal resource exploration project” to be carried out by IGNIS H2 Enerji Üretim Anonim Şirketi on a 5,560.13-square-meter portion of a pasture area totaling 453,494.83 square meters that cover 16 villages in the district.
No Environmental Impact Assessment report was required for the project, which was initiated without the knowledge or consent of the local population. Petitions submitted by villagers objecting to the project were also rejected. Villagers opposing the project have begun extensive organizing efforts both on social media and within the district, emphasizing that the project will bring them no benefit and will instead destroy their living environment.
Villagers react to the project
The company, which began searching for geothermal resources in the pasture area designated for the geothermal power plant within the same year, plans to carry out its first drilling operation in the area in May. The project, which is planned particularly on a fault line, has created serious concern among local residents in terms of both livelihood and living conditions. Villagers, who face the risk of losing their pasture and wetland areas, say they are preparing to implement protest plans in the coming days in response to the geothermal power plant project. Deniz Gündüz, a writer and resident of Çaylar village, said they would continue their struggle against the possible threat to their livelihoods and the risk of forced migration. He also said, “These lands, this water and this nature belong to us. We will not allow anyone to plunder them.”
Deniz Gündüz also described the migration policies that have affected the village where he was born and raised. He said that many villagers have been forced to migrate since the 1990s due to unemployment and the policies implemented in the region. Gündüz added that this migration has continued systematically up to the present day and emphasized that in recent years capital-driven projects causing environmental destruction and threatening the villagers’ sources of livelihood have further intensified this migration.
They want to continue the policy of forced migration
Gündüz continued: “Today, ecological destruction is being carried out not only in Varto but in many areas. There is an open hostility and war against nature. People in our villages sustain their livelihoods by raising livestock. If this geothermal power plant project is implemented, these opportunities will also come to an end.
I would also like to speak a little about my own experience. I remember my childhood; our village was very crowded, and we had both livestock and sources of livelihood. Over the years, everyone migrated to the cities. After some time, people were forced to migrate to large cities because they could not find work in their own villages. There they became cheap labor. Both this dispersal and this migration happened out of necessity. And that was not all; life also became increasingly difficult for those who remained in the village. Dams were built in the villages, and those dams did not leave us with clean living conditions or clean water.”
Pasture and wetland areas in the region will disappear
Gündüz said that such projects also undermine the limited opportunities that villagers still have: “They did not leave a decent life even in the district or in the villages. Today our youth continue to migrate both in search of a better life and for work. Nothing related to livestock breeding or agriculture has been left in the villages; even the remaining opportunities are being destroyed. There is no policy implemented by the state to address this. People are generally forced to migrate to other cities in order to work. This plunder is not carried out in a single direction; it is conducted on multiple fronts.
They aim to establish geothermal power plants in the villages. They want to do this, but with this project they are seeking to destroy nature and dry out an entire region. With such a project, everything related to production there would disappear; neither agriculture nor farming could continue.”
Projects bring no benefit to local people
Gündüz said that the projects implemented in the region have brought no benefit to the local population and pointed to the five dams built on the Murat River in the district as an example. Despite the presence of these dams, he noted that villagers still face both water shortages and electricity cuts, emphasizing that the geothermal power plant project planned for the area stems from the same policy.
Gündüz also said: “They want to destroy life there in the name of capital. They also want people to migrate from those villages. That is why there is unlimited plunder in the region; people truly feel anger over this situation. Instead of these projects, it would be more reasonable to carry out work related to agriculture and livestock in the area. At this point, people should struggle for nature. They produce electricity, but it brings us no benefit. The dam generates electricity, yet that electricity goes to Azerbaijan. That is why these projects do not benefit us. The land, the water and the nature belong to us, but they come and seize them. In this way they only harm our nature. They destroy our lives.”
The people of Varto will protect their nature
Deniz Gündüz said they would not abandon their struggle and concluded with the following remarks: “We will do everything we can. I trust the people of Varto. The people will protect their nature and their lives. They are reacting in every field, and we know this reaction will grow. We will continue to protect our nature and continue our struggle against these projects. We do not want this project to be implemented; we want our living spaces and our land. They should leave nature alone.”
The 16 Kurdish-Alevi villages and hamlets that would be affected by the project are: Tanzik, Tatan, Hemok, Çorsan, Xwarik and the Dewreşêli hamlet attached to it; Qasiman, Çarsan, Emera, Zengena, Mengen, Kuzik, Civarka and the Kortegula hamlet attached to Civarka village; Canisera, Xaşxaşa, Büyük Uskura, Küçük Uskura, Şorikê, Şeman, Gadiza and Badan.