Mr. Hicri Nalbant, spokesman for the Canakkale Environment Platform, criticized a Canadian gold mining company, Alamos Gold Inc., for suing three villagers for entering a forest without consent. The company received a court order barring the villagers from the forest for three months and is seeking $7,200 in compensation. Nalbant vowed to legally and financially support the villagers, and said the community would collect that amount themselves if the villagers lost the case. Local poet Hanife Dörtbaş also spoke against the mining company's use of cyanide and its encroachment on local lands and democracy. The gold mining company faces significant opposition in the region from environmental groups and political

1. 28.03.2013
“We will show them what it means to bring a case”
Mr. Hicri Nalbant who is spokesman of Canakkale Environment Platform says “we will show
them what it means to bring a case” in his speech one of meeting in a village located in Ida
Mountain.
Recently, the Canadian-based gold mining company in the field of gold mining Alamos Gold
Inc. entered into without the consent of the three villagers not to enter the forest for three
months in case there is a penalty.
In his speech Mr. Nalbant said “the company sued three villagers and local court has given
not to enter their forest for three months. Canadian and their local co-conspirators could go
into our forest but our villagers (citizens) not. Did we find our country on the road? Alamos
Gold Mining Inc. asked $7.200 compensation. Why asked compensation in Dollar not in
Turkish Lira? We will show them what it means to asked compensation as Dollar. We will
support the villagers both juridically and economically. We are together with them. If the
villagers lose the case, we will collect $7.200 as 1 TL between us. So, the villagers never pay
anything to them”.
Many villagers showed in the map below go against Alamos Gold Mining Inc. One of them is
Hanife Dörtbaş. She is not an ordinary village woman but also a local poet. She has written
many poems on Ida Mountains.
Mrs. Dörtbaş called as Aunt Hanife between members of the Canakale Environment Platform.
She makes speech at the village meetings.

2. She says “Cyanide should never be used at gold mining in the world. Democracy is being tried
to take off us. Foreigners are coming and excavated our lands. We do not accept this. Who is
working for whom? Are we servant of foreign countries? What will we say our ancestries, what
will we say our new generations? Who will give an answer when our new generations ask why
not hand down a clean environment us? We will fight till die!”
Alamos Gold Inc. has a trouble in Canakkale Province /Turkey. There is huge opposition and
protests. Except ruling party members, no opposition party supports the company either local
or national level. It seems the company’s investment to be ill-spent. Environment protesters
claim to send it back to it’s country not more than one year.
Ekrem TUFAN
On behalf of Çanakkale Environment Platform