Onur Yılmaz, a member of Polen Ecology, was detained upon entering Turkey on 25 June and arrested on 27 June on charges of “membership in an illegal organization.” It was reported that authorities cited his participation in public panels and the statements of a secret witness as grounds for his prosecution.

In the joint statement, it was emphasized that Yılmaz had made significant contributions to various ecological struggles, including the "Drop the Pickaxe" campaign, the Earth Social Conference, and the "Life Is More Precious Than Gold" campaign. It also highlighted his solidarity with villagers in the Aegean region, communities in the Black Sea region, and urban laborers in their fight against ecological destruction.

The statement further underlined that Yılmaz’s academic work on ecology and socialism has offered valuable contributions both in theory and practice.

The statement called for justice and the rule of law, stressing that the criminalization of climate activists is unacceptable: “We demand that all climate activists in Turkey be allowed to defend nature without fear of retaliation, arbitrary restrictions, or judicial harassment.”

Among the signatories were renowned sociologist Korkut Boratav; environmental scientist Julia Steinberger (University of Lausanne); economist James K. Boyce (University of Massachusetts); political ecologist Bengi Akbulut; ecological activist Beyza Üstün; Marxist theorist Alex Demirovic (University of Frankfurt); ecology writer John Bellamy Foster (University of Oregon); and Katharina Pühl of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, along with many other prominent academics and activists.