Crying for a Turtle!

“This beautiful country we live in never had a ‘C’ plan, USA plans were always put into action.”

Uğur MUMCU

The Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement entered into force on November 4, 2016. Our country signed the Paris Agreement on April 22, 2016, with the representatives of 175 countries at a signature ceremony held in New York.

The long-term goal of the agreement is to limit global warming to well below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. The other goals are to combat climate change and adapt its changes, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide that food production is not damaged while these are being carried out. Another goal of the agreement is to provide sustainable development and eradicate poverty.

Turkey is a country which signed the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016 but did not bring into force.

Why?

Rain, Flood, Fire and Helplessness

In developing countries like our country, it is difficult to predict results of natural disasters and the damages they bring, especially if science is ignored while greed and income is the priority of a certain segment of people in that country.  For me, one of the reasons is that people do not know things about nature and its power, or have incomplete and wrong ideas about it.

In the Western Black Sea region, there were floods due to heavy rain, and logs in storage were carried by the floodwaters, causing big damages and the death of tens of people. Highways collapsed. Videos from Kastamonu surroundings were dreadful; the streets and avenues of the city were full of logs and cars that were smashed by these logs and bogged down.

On the other hand, fires that started in the Mediterranean region suddenly spread at an unpredictable speed. Many villages and thousands of hectares of forests were burned to ashes due to the insufficient precautions taken against fire.

Is Turkey aware of the importance of the Paris Agreement?

Compared to previous years, the world witnessed more forest fires and flood disasters. The most important reason given for this is the increased temperatures, compared to previous years.

While lowering greenhouse gas emission levels that were the result of industrialization is the subject of the Paris Agreement and an important problem that the whole world deals with, it is impossible to understand why the ones in authority are so indifferent to the issue.

Considering the criterion such as economic growth and high population growth (I do not include uncontrolled refugees and immigrants who now number more than 5 million), absolute emission reduction seems impossible for Turkey. It is an issue to be recorded.

Are the people of this country aware of this helplessness?

The human is a part of nature

For everyone, the country they live in is the most beautiful place on earth. For us, there is no other Turkey. Our losses in these big fires and floods taught us this fact: The measures that are not taken by the authorities in time costs a lot and always paid by the citizens.

The disasters we experience do not only cause unhappiness today, but also destroys our future. The forests will renew themselves in 50-60 years. Average human life is 75 years in Turkey. 100-year-old trees, 200-year-old turtles, an ecosystem formed over centuries and all living things in it went up in smoke under your eyes in a few days. We just desperately watched our future vanishing before our eyes…

Crying for the Turtle!

The slow moving turtle is the master of the forest, due to its long life of up to 200 years. Think of a forest full of 90- to 100-year-old trees, and think of a turtle that wanders, mates, nests and lays eggs among age-old trees… I think turtles are the ones who shed tears for the burning forest more than any other. Because they live for 2-3 centuries and witness the forest during all these long years between their births and deaths. Now think once again; do you think it is enough to feel guilty, shed tears and say “we are sorry” for the nature and the living things in it that you could not protect due to mismanagement?

Where there is no science, there is disaster and sorrow!

Even if Turkey does not put the Paris Agreement on its agenda and keeps away what the whole world does, the nature does not mind and goes its own way. If a country does not give importance to science, then the painful results of the natural disasters are experienced. For example, due to the increase of the temperature, flamingos in Turkey and cattle in Mexico are dying. Because there is no water! Water is life; if there is no water, there is also no agriculture and no food! Scientists shout out: “The temperature is rising and floods follow.” Measures should be taken and, no matter what we do, we should reduce our carbon footprint.

Afghans after Syrian immigrants!

Why?

History will certainly write that there is an agreement between the USA, the Taliban and Turkey, even if the details are not known today and and hidden from the citizens. When the USA left Afghanistan, Taliban took over Afghanistan and announced sharia. It means Taliban is stronger now. It seems that USA does not care about the people in Afghanistan and gives weapons to its old enemy, Taliban.

USA wants Turkey to host Afghans. Of course, the request of the world gendarmerie is not unrequited for Turkey. Therefore, every day hundreds of Afghanistan citizens pass through Iran and enter Turkey freely.

President and AKP Party Leader Erdoğan’s statement, “European countries owe their peaceful lives to Turkey, as we host 4 million refugees on our lands,” is clear: the increase in the number of refugees in Turkey is a great and powerful weapon used by AKP and its president against the EU.

Consequently, all three parties seem satisfied with the agreement, the details of which are unknown. Of course, if we ignore the majority of the people who say, “We don’t want refugees in Turkey”!

Powerful – Weak State!

Although the concept of “powerful-weak state” looks like a relative concept created by the political party in authority and its party members, because it separates and polarizes the people in Turkey in recent years. But it is not. Everyone wants its state to be a powerful one, it is natural, isn’t it?

During the establishment of the Ottoman Empire, Sheikh Edebali advised Osman Gazi, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, “Son, let the people live so that the State lives.” State concept was not formed in the Western world at that time.

According to this statement, the power and strength of the State depends on the thoughts of the people living in that country, instead of those who run the State saying, “Our State is strong.”

As a citizen:

For me, the State is powerful if it complies with the provisions of the Constitution unconditionally, does not tax its citizens more than necessary, is able to distribute grants to its citizens in case of unforeseen natural disasters, is ready for any kind of help, does not ask for money from its citizens and give them a IBAN to send money, does not does not accept Afghans who have fled their country as the majority of people is against it, has a return plan for Syrians and the ability to explain this plan to its people, does not discriminate its citizens, does not discriminate against people because of their beliefs, makes its citizens believe there is justice although there is no separation of powers, does not create a future anxiety, makes its people feel free and protects everything about their lives.  

What do you think?