Greens in Turkey Launch Green Party!

For A Solution Oriented Contemporary Participatory Politics

Greens in Turkey Launch Green Party! 

“Our House Is on Fire! We shall put it out” say the Greens as they move to establish Turkey’s Green Party (Yeşiller Partisi) and hand in their documents to the Ministry of Interior today (21 September). The Greens aim to “develop tangible and sustainable solutions for the ever-growing problems of our world with an ecocentric approach and without leaving any member of society behind.”

The Greens set out today, on International Peace Day, for a fair, equatable, pluralist, free and peaceful world. They propose realistic solutions to the crises of our day, first and foremost to the climate crisis. The Green Party which embraces ecological balance against the exploitation of human beings and nature has 110 founding members who have elected Emine Özkan (27) and Koray D. Urbarlı (35) as their co-spokespersons.

Emine Özkan thinks Turkey needs green politics. “Today, we face three big global crises: The climate crisis before anything else. A global health crisis comes second, and a crisis of democracy and justice caused by social, economic and cultural injustices. Green thinking is the way out to cope with those problems.” she said. “Green politics being on the rise in Europe and around the world indicated that. The green movement that exists in Turkey for many years has founded the Green Party based on this need.” she added.

Co-spokesperson Koray Doğan Urbarlı thinks they need swift action against the climate crisis, deforestation and loss of biodiversity. “We, the Green Party of Turkey, are well aware of the local and global challenges and we propose solutions based on that. Economy, freedom, democracy and justice are Turkey’s most pressing issues.

We see the current political climate as the root cause behind these problems. For solutions, we look at the world through a new green perspective.” he said.

The Greens say a holistic approach is necessary to defend the rights of animals, rivers, forests, nature in all its parts along with humans.

Highlights of solutions in the Green Party programme:

• Carbon-free economy: Fossil fuel dependency is the main cause of the climate crisis that has shaken political and social structures, and economic dynamics. The solution is in a carbon-free economy. The Greens aim to stop all fossil fuel use by 2050. In order to achieve this Greens encourage responsible use of solar and wind energy by leaving coal. 

• Green New Deal: A total transformation of the economy by supporting the energy and transportation infrastructure change, energy efficiency, creating good jobs, increasing the quality of life, cooperatives, sustainable tourism, small scale agriculture, care services, alternative an informal jobs, 

• Water as a right for all: Water is a commons that belongs to all humans, other living beings and future generations. Greens will develop policies that will repair the broken hydrological cycle and foster water conservation in agricultural, domestic and industrial domains.

• Good, Clean, Healthy Food for All: We will ban pesticides which put biodiversity, natural resources, human and animal lives at risk. We will create a support system to prevent the farmers dependency on companies and pesticides. We will prevent the depletion of natural resources, soil degradation, deforestation and desertification through holistic, restorative and sustainable agricultural practices.

• Gender and Sexuality: Is an Area of Rights, Equality and Freedom! We set out to displace the patriarchal ideology and make structural and relational change in order to achieve liberation for all individuals, women, men and LGBTQI+ through equal citizenship.

The Green Party says that it is setting out to write the words of the future together with future generations. They say another world is possible where mankind lives freely and equally in harmony with nature. Greens say their structure is a convivial one based on pluralism, one that cherishes diversity, is founded upon non-violence, aims at direct democracy and works through participatory means. They call on all who believe common principles to walk together in a party that resembles the world they imagine.

Founders:

Adnan Genç, Ahmet Atıl Aşıcı, Ahmet Salih Tuna, Akgün İlhan, Akın Akınsal, Ali Kerim Mutlu, Ali Osman Karababa, Ali Rıza Danış, Ali Serdar Gültekin, Alidost Numan, Ali Alper Akyüz, Alper Tolga Akkuş, Arca Alpan, Arca Yılmaz, Ayla Tokmak, Ayşe Akdeniz, Ayşe Bilge Öztürk, Ayşe Ceren Sarı, Bahar Topçu, Bedri Esmer, Berkan Özyer, Berkay Erkan, Buket Atlı, Burcu Meltem Arık, Burcu Yeşil, Can Veyselgil, Cansın Leylim Ilgaz, Celal Ay, Cihat Demirtaş, Çağlayan Koşal, Çiğdem Yalçın, Deniz Kaynak, Devin Bahçeci, Efe Göktoğan, Efe Baysal, Ege Tuğrul, Emel Kurma, Emine Özkan, Emre Kösemen, Engin İnan, Ercüment Gürçay, Erdal Karayazgan, Erdost Yıldız, Ergin Cinmen, Esat Özbayram, Fatma Çiğdem Aydın , Feyha Karslı, Firdevs Sema Tatlı, Füsun Özcan, Gizem Akhan, Gizem Ballı, Gizem Kastamonulu, Gülce Yeniev, Gülnur Aksop, Güneş Akçay, Güneşin Aydemir, Hakan Ozan Erzincanlı, Haluk Yurtkuran, Hüseyin Öztürk, Işıl Sarıyüce, İdil Zeynep Dağdemir, İlhami Alkan Olsson, İnci İşbulur, Koray Doğan Urbarlı, Korhan Gümüş, Layra Mete, Mahir Ilgaz, Mahmut Boynudelik, Mehmet Demir, Melisa Kutluğ, Meltem Düzel Ayral, Murat Özbank, Mustafa Çakılcıoğlu, Müge Yorgancı, Nazan Ünverir, Nazlı Danış, Nedim Arul, Nil Kayarlar Sarrafoğlu, Nil Mutluer, Oral Kaya, Orhan Esen, Özge Doruk, Özgecan Kara, Özlem Teke Taşdemir, Pelin Cengiz, Pınar Demircan, Rudi Sayat Pulatyan, Sara Nur Yıldız, Savaş Çömlek, Seda Yurtcanlı, Sedat Atalay, Sedat Gündoğdu, Sema Alpan Atamer, Sema Bayraktar, Sennur Baybuğa, Serdar İskit, Sevgi Mutlu, Sevil Turan, Sezin Öney, Süleyman Yılmaz, Şevket Uyanık, Tolga Öztorun, Turgay Özçelik, Ümide Aysu, Ümit Şahin, Ünsal Günal, Yağmur Özgür Güven, Yasemin Göksu, Yelda Çubukçu, Zerrin İren Boynudelik

Party Council

Ahmet Atıl Aşıcı, Ahmet Salih Tuna, Akgün İlhan, Ali Osman Karababa, Ali Serdar Gültekin, Alidost Numan, Alper Tolga Akkuş, Arca Yılmaz, Ayla Tokmak, Ayşe Akdeniz, Bahar Topçu, Berkan Özyer, Berkay Erkan , Burcu Yeşil, Deniz Kaynak, Efe Göktoğan, Emine Özkan, Ercüment Gürçay, Gizem Ballı, Gizem Kastamonulu, Gülce Yeniev, Işıl Sarıyüce, Koray Doğan Urbarlı, Layra Mete, Mahmut Boynudelik, Melisa Kutluğ, Nil Mutluer, Özge Doruk, Özgecan Kara, Özlem Teke Taşdemir, Pelin Cengiz, Rudi Sayat Pulatyan, Savaş Çömlek, Sevil Turan, Sezin Öney, Şevket Uyanık, Tolga Öztorun, Turgay Özçelik, Ümit Şahin