In Dagyeniköy in the municipality of Germencik in western Turkey, mining of nitrile is to be carried out on land cultivated by peasants, for which exploratory drilling has recently been initiated by the company Mine Exploration and Testing (MTA). The mining of the highly toxic salts threatens the soil and its fertility, and thus the economy of the peasants.
When the residents of the affected village were summoned to an information meeting with the MTA about the drilling, they marched up together, demanding an immediate stop to the drilling within the agricultural areas and that the MTA representatives leave the village immediately. In a nearby village on the other side of the mining area, the villagers set up a tent camp, which the governor and gendarmerie have been harassing since then - despite this and the wind and weather, the peasants do not give up the tents. They resolutely affirmed, "We will not give up the resistance until the drilling is gone!"
On the other hand, an AKP deputy and prefect, together with the MTA regional director, visited the village and tried to make the residents believe that it was routine drilling to discover mineral reserves all over Turkey and that the residents had been misinformed. But the peasants of Germencik do not fall for these cowardly lies and continue their struggle. Their actions are proof that the poor peasants know how to organise themselves better every day in the struggle for land.
