The Kazdağları (Mount Ida), which boast the country’s highest oxygen quality and stretch for approximately 170 kilometres between Çanakkale and Balıkesir, are one of the Northern Aegean’s most important areas for water, forests and biodiversity; the plundering of this region has accelerated during the AKP era. The region, which is under a multi-pronged assault ranging from mines to geothermal energy power stations (JES), from solar power stations (GES) to developments carried out under the guise of ‘ecotourism’, is now facing the prospect of publicly-owned campsites, forest parks and leisure facilities being leased to private operators. Environmental activists and local residents have reacted to these developments, stating that ‘both the surface and the depths of the Kazdağları are being handed over to capital’.

OPENING UP TO CAPITAL

According to a TEMA report compiled in 2020 using MAPEG data, 79 per cent of the 1,697,000-hectare area covering the Biga Peninsula and the northern Aegean is covered by mining licences. It was noted that the pressure from mining in the region has increased further with new licences issued in the intervening years. Whilst numerous gold and copper mining projects, including those at Halilağa, Kirazlı and Ağı Dağı, are situated within the same ecosystem, the region is home to licences held by companies such as Cengiz Holding, TÜPRAG, Koza Gold, CVK Mining, Esan, Lidya Mining and Doğu Biga Mining.

The Kazdağları have also been the scene of one of Turkey’s largest-scale environmental struggles. The felling of thousands of trees as part of the work initiated in 2019 by Doğu Biga Madencilik – the Turkish subsidiary of the Canadian company Alamos Gold – for a gold and silver mine in Kirazlı sparked a major public outcry. Consequently, the ‘Water and Conscience Watch’ launched on 26 July 2019 became one of the symbols of the nationwide environmental struggle. Following the resistance, the company’s operating licence was not renewed, but the project was not cancelled. Alamos Gold’s projects in Kirazlı, Ağı Dağı and Çamyurt were transferred to Tümad Madencilik in 2025. Although the company has changed, the threat of mining in the region has not ended.

In the Kazdağları region, it is not only underground resources but also public recreational areas that are targeted by privatisation policies. Following the privatisation of the Akçay Training and Recreation Camp and the Gökçeada Training and Recreation Facilities, both owned by TCDD, there are now plans to transfer the operating rights of Sarıkız Forest Park to the private sector. The long-term leasing of numerous areas—ranging from day-use facilities around Hasanboğuldu to the forest parks in Altınoluk and Akçay—is leading to a gradual reduction in public spaces that citizens have traditionally used free of charge or at low cost.

According to the tender notice issued by the Bayramiç Forest Management Directorate, a forest area of approximately 35 hectares is to be leased for 20 years. The tender envisages the construction of facilities such as camping and caravan sites, restaurants, retail units, a viewing terrace and an adventure park.

CONCRETE SPREAD IS INCREASING

Süheyla Doğan, Chair of the Kazdağı Natural and Cultural Heritage Protection Association, stated that projects carried out in recent years under the banner of ‘ecotourism’ have opened up the countryside to development. Doğan noted that they had filed lawsuits against the 15 largest of the more than 400 ecotourism applications announced in 2021 and 2022, and had won all of them, adding, “We said these projects would concrete over the countryside. For a while, the governor’s office suspended the projects, but later the criteria were changed to allow for larger site areas. This time, it is not small investors but big capital that is turning its attention to the region,” he said.

Noting that new construction has begun at many points across the Kazdağları, Doğan said, “On one side there are mining projects, on another geothermal and solar energy projects, and on yet another villa-style ecotourism investments. Every corner of the Kazdağları is being opened up to capital.”

Doğan, stating that the leasing of forest parks to private operators is also a continuation of the same policy, explained that public spaces are increasingly being taken out of public use. Doğan said, “National parks and forest areas are being handed over to private operators piece by piece. The areas where citizens can enter free of charge are decreasing day by day. “On the one hand, the mountain is being hollowed out by mining; on the other, forests, campsites and recreational areas are being privatised. Both the underground and the surface of the Kazdağları are being handed over to capital,” he said.

Whilst mining projects are riddling the Kazdağları with holes, the sale or leasing of public spaces is also fuelling public outrage.

OXYGEN RESERVOIR

The Kazdağları are one of the most critical ecosystems not only in the Northern Aegean but in the whole of Turkey. The region, which supplies drinking and irrigation water to significant parts of Çanakkale and Balıkesir, also stands out for its high oxygen levels, rich forest cover and biological diversity. Home to approximately 800–1,000 species of vascular plants, the Kazdağları Mountains are home to over 70 endemic plant species. The Kazdağı fir, which grows naturally only here in the world, is one of the region’s iconic species. According to experts, the destruction of the region directly affects not only nature but also water security, agriculture and climate balance.

LEADİNG COMPANİES İN THE REGİON

The main companies that have operated or held licences in the Kazdağları and Biga Peninsula at various times are as follows:

Cengiz Holding – Truva Copper Halilağa Copper Mine

Doğu Biga Mining (Liberty Gold) Halilağa project (previous period)

Alamos Gold / Doğu Biga Madencilik Kirazlı Gold Mine

TÜPRAG Metal Madencilik (Eldorado Gold) Gold projects in Lapseki and the surrounding area

Koza Altın Various licence areas in Çanakkale

CVK Madencilik Iron and metallic mineral licences

Esan (Eczacıbaşı Group) Industrial minerals and metallic ores

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Kazdağları'nın altı da üstü de talan, published in BirGün newspaper on July 23, 2026.