The Great March of Anatolia[1] is a movement in Turkey which was started with the intention of preserving the integrity of Anatolia's water, nature and roots. It is being organized with the slogan “We won’t not give you Anatolia!” for the purpose of ending all investments that damage the nature and environment. The march is open to everyone's participation; it is realized with the efforts of individual volunteers without any involvement of any company or organization.
The first group started walking on April 2 from Artvin as the Eastern Black Sea feed and is continuing to march along with 7 other groups from different regions of Turkey. The march will last 40 days and 40 nights and will conclude with the meeting of all in Ankara on the third week of May. Drynet partner TEMA is supporting the event; many volunteers lead and participate in the march.
In the last ten years in Turkey, the ownership of all rivers and streams has been transferred to corporations in the energy business. Thousands of dams and hydroelectric power plants are being constructed. The mountains are taken over by miners. The lives are endangered with nuclear and thermal power stations. The seeds planted for thousands of years are disappearing. The forests are being razed. People can no longer feed themselves on the fertile lands of their ancestors. They abandon their villages and the lands of their parents. Thousands migrate to the cities, and ancient Anatolian cultures disappear one by one. Life becomes more difficult each day in over-crowded cities. The financial and moral costs of the migration rise day by day.
This is why the people of Anatolia have decided to rely on its own wills to save the life of Anatolia. People are getting together with all who possess a conscience for a walk that will last 40 days and 40 nights. It shall flow to Ankara like rivers and streams. They shall walk for the sake of their respect for the past and the commitment to the future of children.
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[1] Anatolia, or "small Asia": a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia
, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey.
