The real existential threat to Turkey

Land, fields, forests… Reserves, leasing of agricultural land, article 16 of the Forestry Act…

After the transition to the presidential system, it became necessary to pay more attention to what is happening to the country’s land, where significant changes are taking place. Calling it urban development profiteering is not enough. A planned, steady transformation spread over the years is being carried out. Geography is being remapped by seemingly unrelated legal regulations. The status of the land is being changed, leading to the largest transfer of ownership in the country.

So what does the government do? The fragmented presidential decrees we read in the Official Gazette, with maps added as if drawn in a void on a blank sheet of paper, reveal a certain reality.

Over the past decade, fundamental changes have been made to three major laws that directly affect the status of Turkey’s land area. Since 2018, critical revisions have been implemented, significantly expanding Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s powers.

The first is the 2012 Urban Transformation Law, which sparked significant debate and reaction after the redefinition of “reserve areas” late last year. Just looking at what happened in the southeastern province of Hatay is enough to understand the implications. The second is the 2014 amendment to the Soil Protection and Land Use Law. A related regulation was issued last month, which allows for the leasing of agricultural land that has not been cultivated for two years. The third is the Forestry Law. In 2012, the infamous “2B law” was passed, which allowed for the sale of land that had lost its forest status. In 2018, a critical addition was made to the Forestry Law. Article 16 gave Erdoğan the authority to exclude any area from the forest classification at his discretion.

Many similar laws could be listed. Laws on grazing lands, water resources, mining, energy, tourism, villages and metropolises, industrial zones, incentives for organized industrial zones (OSBs), land registration, even citizenship… When you look at the outcomes of each of these laws over time, the picture remains consistent: the status of the land is being redefined.

Now let us take a closer look at one of these. Using the meticulous studies conducted separately by Prof. Dr. Erol Köktürk, a Geomatics Engineer, and Forest Engineer Yücel Çağlar, let us summarize what has happened in the forests, especially after 2018, a topic that has come to the fore again due to the massive forest fires.

Article 16 opens the door to disaster

With the 2012 2/B law, a total of 4,734 square kilometers of land were declassified as forests and sold. Only 4.7 percent of this land had settlements. These areas were opened up for development through subsequent zoning amnesties and new zoning plans. The government convinced the public that as cities grew, much of the land designated as forests had lost its function and that long-standing zoning problems needed to be solved. However, it became clear as the presidential system was implemented that the problem was not about solving a problem for the citizens. In 2018, a new Article 16, even worse than 2/B, was added to the Forestry Law. In short, Erdoğan could now declassify any area of ​​land and sell it at will. He had full authority to set the criteria.

The huge loopholes in both laws reveal why there is a planned, systematic attack on forests. What is this loophole? The duration of these practices is not defined. They did not even bother to write it down. Yet both laws are justified by circumstances of the past. When you mention “degraded forests” you are not referring to something that is future-oriented.

So what does this mean? Is the country continually producing land that has lost its forest status? Do meteorites fall, volcanoes erupt, or massive landslides occur every year? Are forests drying out due to climate change? During forest fires on the country’s west coast, the government immediately declared that it would not sell or open the areas to development. “We will reforest them,” it promised. So how does Erdoğan continue to find areas that have lost their forest status every week by simply looking at a map?

Between 2018 and August 2024, Erdoğan used this power 27 times. Once under the parliamentary system, the rest under the presidential system.

In the Republic of Turkey, an individual has single-handedly removed the forest status of 721 plots of land, totaling 26.7 square kilometers across 37 provinces, and put them up for sale. Could there be a more terrifying force?

Moreover, this power should be considered ‘exceptional’ or ‘temporary’, beyond daily economic and political decisions. Even in the event of a coup or invasion, this is a power that an occupying power might not use.

If we look at the provinces involved, we see that these decisions are concentrated in regions rich in forests. We also see something else. In six years, 61 percent of the plots that lost their forest designation are smaller than 1,000 square meters. Some are even 5.8 or 8.1 square meters. This means that a personalized government is carrying out forest destruction tailored to individuals, setting up a criminal partnership from above.

Much more could be said about what is happening to the forests. But it must be emphasized again that we are dealing with more than just a serious case of deforestation. A process of ‘land privatization’ is happening rapidly, which will have consequences for future generations and every aspect of social life.

Those who constantly talk about sovereignty, national unity and the land watered with the “blood of martyrs” should take a closer look at the tangible, visible changes taking place in the country’s land. The real “existential threat” lies here.