Turkey News

Growing up, I lived in Ankara, far away from the coast, but the best time of year for me was always the summer months when I would travel to the…

Six grassroots environmental activists received the Goldman Environmental Prize on April 24. Known as the "Green Nobel Prize," the Goldman Prize honors environmental activists from the six continental regions. The…

Last July, as the Ukraine war raged, the EU barred all Russian woody biomass imports; even as South Korea took in Russia’s supply. Illicit woody biomass may also still be flowing to the EU from Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Money for conservation is limited, and deciding how to prioritize spending raises questions not only about where to channel resources but also when and in what order. Listen to an…

Environmental regulation runs up against political roadblocks in many nations, but the trend is especially strong in authoritarian countries like Turkey, where weak laws, lack of transparency, and repression are rife.

For about a decade, ichthyologist Cüneyt Kaya had made it a quest to search for the critically endangered Batman River loach (Paraschistura chrysicristinae), a tiny, orange-and-brown-striped freshwater fish once found…

The United Nations Basel Convention regulates international transport of hazardous waste, which in 2021 expanded to include plastics. But the U.S. has never fully implemented the agreement; Biden may change that.

Wildlife traffickers rely heavily on airlines to smuggle endangered species. Now, in a recent report, the U.K.-based charity World Animal Protection (WAP) has named Turkish Airlines as one of the…

Turkey’s brown bears migrate long distances in search of food, a new study has found. This is the first time that migration has been observed in brown bears, co-author Çağan…

Villagers in the country's lush Black Sea region face police force, legal hurdles, and more subtle means of suppression in their fight to protect the environment. The Fol Creek Valley…

Emerging regional and national networks seek to build connections between local communities and provide support to their fights against dams, mines, and other environmental threats. An anti-mining protest in the…

A new short documentary, Damocracy, highlights the battles over monster dam projects imperiling local people and wild rivers. Examining the Belo Monte dam in Brazil and the Ilisu dam in…

The vast Mesoptomian marshes in southern Iraq were said to be the site of the original Garden of Eden. On their fringes have risen and fallen 12,000 years of Sumerian,…

Helmeted guineafowl in native habitat in Pilanesberg Reserve, South Africa. Photo courtesy of Çağan Şekercioğlu. As Turkey raises and releases thousands of non-native helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris) to eat ticks…

Surface coal mining in Bihar, India. Around 70-80 percent of India's power is currently provided by coal. Even as the clamor to reduce greenhouse gas emissions reaches a new high—echoed…

Turkey's stunning landscapes and wildlife are under threat due to government ambivalence. Here, the sun sets outside Igdir, Turkey. Photo by: Cagan Sekercioglu. Turkey: the splendor of the Hagia Sophia,…

19 forest policies have been nominated for an award by the World Future Council, a global think tank. The policies come from 16 countries: Bhutan, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Finland,…

Last week nearly 200 Turkish organizations banded together to protest a draft law by the government to open up Turkey's protected areas to development. A combination of environmental, health, education,…

A dirt road that had bisected Lake Kuyucuk in Turkey’s Kars Province has been turned into an island for birds to breed safely away from livestock, foxes, and humans. Converted…

A few weeks into the bluefin tuna fishing season and Turkey has decided to go it alone. Breaking international agreements, the Turkish government has announced that it will ignore agreed-upon…

12 fish species go extinct in lake near Istanbul 12 fish species go extinct in lake near Istanbul Jeremy Hance, mongabay.com September 24, 2008 Turkey has lost twelve species of…