7 thousand signatures were collected to cancel the rehabilitation project

The signature campaign initiated by Bartın River Initiative to stop the construction of the glass wall construction project started with the Bartın River Rehabilitation Project gathered a petition signed by 7,000 people in 10 days. The petitions carried in plastic bags were delivered to the Directorate of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change.
Reacting to the rehabilitation project that foresees the construction of a concrete wall around the Bartın River with a height of 2 meters and glass barriers on top, Bartın River Initiative initiated a signature campaign on May 27 at the Yalı location, demanding the cessation of the works. With the signature campaign ongoing for approximately 10 days, 7,000 people wrote petitions aiming to stop the works on the grounds that the ongoing works would not prevent the river from overflowing and that the natural beauties along the riverbank were being obscured. The collected petitions were brought to the Directorate of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change by Bartın River Initiative, which included representatives of political parties and non-governmental organizations led by Bartın Mayor M. Rıza Yalçınkaya and Bartın Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Halil Balık.
During a silent walk covering a distance of approximately 1.5 kilometers while carrying the petitions in plastic bags, Mayor Yalçınkaya, President Balık, and other group members handed them over to the Directorate of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change.
After registering 500 petitions in the institution’s document registration department and submitting them, Mayor Yalçınkaya stated that they would take the matter to court if the works continue. Comparing the concrete and glass wall works on the riverbank to the Great Wall of China, Yalçınkaya expressed: ‘Even in history, the beauties of the Bartın River are mentioned. Unfortunately, we see that our living space, which we all have memories of, is slipping away from us with a river rehabilitation project. We see that the most beautiful natural beauties of Bartın are disappearing. We took an initiative to protect Bartın River. Our people signed at the signature stands. They expressed with their signatures that they could not digest these wrong practices. This project is a wrong project. It is a project that will cause Bartın’s economy a lot in terms of tourism to lose the Bartın River. The construction is ongoing. It bothers the residents of this city. We made this initiative to stop the course of events with the signatures. I believe that those who do not hear our voice will pay attention to Bartın people’s signatures, show respect, and hear their voices. If the works continue, we will apply to court with the approximately 7,000 signatories we collected, based on all official documents related to the project at Bartın Municipality, for suspension. The final word will then be the court’s. I believe that the process that follows will be in favor of the people of Bartın. We do not want our right to a healthy life to be taken away. We want the beauties that God has bestowed upon us to be experienced by future generations as well. Now it is the turn of the state, the authorities. Nevertheless, if we do not get results, this time the administrative court will have the say. We will respect the decision of the court.’