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Under the Palace regime, which is handing over the country’s green spaces to capital, the remaining forested areas can lose their status with a single signature from one man. The deforestation policies implemented by the AKP government for years are continuing at full speed. Most recently, a decree published yesterday in the Official Gazette and bearing the signature of AKP President Erdoğan declared approximately 1 million square metres of land in 23 provinces to be non-forest areas. These decisions, which cover protected areas, coastal zones and plots adjacent to tourist regions, have cleared the way for new construction and profit-driven projects. A significant portion of the areas covered by the decision are located in coastal cities and regions under intense pressure for construction. In particular, satellite images of areas where forest status has been downgraded in Kocaeli Körfez and Muğla Fethiye show that areas which once had forest cover have, over the years, been encircled by settlement and construction pressure. Meanwhile, whilst the area of forest land with downgraded status in Samsun alone exceeded 316,000 square metres, it was noted that in tourist regions such as Marmaris, areas spanning thousands of square metres were also reclassified as non-forest land.

THE FATE OF THOUSANDS OF HECTARES REMAINS UNCERTAIN

Since the addition of Article 16 to the Forest Law in 2018, thousands of hectares of land have been classified as non-forest areas. However, no clear information has been shared with the public regarding the intended use of these areas. Data shared by Forestry Policy Expert Prof. Dr. Erdoğan Atmış revealed that deforestation has been systematically carried out for years. Through the 2B and Annex 16 applications, 667,000 hectares of land have been reclassified as non-forest land to date. While this figure represents 2.85% of the country’s forests, the forest area allocated for mining, energy and tourism investments has reached 845,000 hectares. The destruction of forests was not limited to these allocations. Due to excessive logging policies, timber production, which stood at 13 million cubic metres in 2005, rose to 32 million cubic metres in 2021. A total of 114,500 hectares of forest were cleared for industrial plantations, and 145,700 hectares for private afforestation.

Meanwhile, according to the latest statistics released by the General Directorate of Forests, between 2014 and 2024, 381,783 hectares of forested land were opened up for non-forestry activities, primarily mining and energy projects.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Parsel parsel ranta açılıyor, published in BirGün newspaper on May 20, 2026.

Kaynak: BirGün