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Turkish Daily News

ALIAGA, Turkey, 15 January 2002   -- Some 15 Greenpeace activists, who held a demonstration to protest and prevent the international toxic waste trade at the ship-breakers zone in the Aliaga district of Izmir, were taken into custody by security forces.

Greenpeace's ship "Rainbow Warrior" is still anchored in the Aliaga gulf. The Greenpeace activists occupied a Swiss ship named "Star of Venice" that was dismantled and called for a stop to dismantling ships that contain toxic asbestos in Turkey. The activists hung a poster saying "toxic ships cannot enter." The activists then wrote "Stop Dangerous Waste Trade" on a ship named "Best" with spray-paint.

During this protest, security forces took 15 Greenpeace activists into custody. During the demonstration, Erdem Vardar, in charge of the campaign for the toxic waste trade, made a statement. Vardar, who was also taken into custody by security forces, said that the maritime industry was subjecting people and the environment to toxic materials by sending its toxic waste to countries like Turkey. He added that they would get their just deserts.

"The European Union (EU) has got schizophrenia. Because, while the EU urges candidate countries to take high measures on environmental standards, they also permit the maritime industry to poor out their toxic waste into its own back garden.

The Turkish government which allows the toxic waste trade, despite the law prohibiting it, and companies doing this business are as much guilty as the EU," Vardar said. Pointing out that every year, nearly 100 ships were dismantled in Aliaga, Vardar said, "We have determined some materials containing asbest0os and toxic chemicals in and around the ship dismantling facility, and people are collecting scraps from around this area.

This shows that the health of these people and the environment are in big danger." Vardar called for the Turkish government to stop the import of ships for scrapping containing toxic materials: "We require that the owners of these ships should have these toxic materials removed and then send their ships to this dismantling facility in Aliaga and the working conditions in this facility should be rearranged."