The district of Kiğı in Bingöl province is under threat due to mining operations. Valleys and natural areas that should be declared national parks are being torn apart by the capital. The region is severely damaged by dams, mines, tunnels and cyanide exploration.

Villagers are reacting to the activities of the mine operated by Bingöl Metal Mining, located in the Pêrî Valley and affecting five villages.

The mining company, which drilled into the mountain to open a quarry and polluted the Pêrî stream with a pond formed from dirty runoff, is threatening the entire life in the area. The polluted water in the pond contaminates the water used by animals and by villagers for their gardens.

The mine’s dirty pond flows into the Pêrî stream

In Kiğı, a mine opened in 2022 for the extraction of lead, silver, and zinc began operations over an area of approximately 500 hectares, covering the villages of Arêg, Elbeg, Karêr, Înaq and their surrounding hamlets, after a “positive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)”.

Despite the villagers' opposition, the company started operations in the area and soon began working on the mountain located above the mine site as well. In a region at risk of landslides, the company had to halt operations after intervention by the governor's office. Residents of the Arikan hamlet in Arêg village state that the mine is polluting both the water and the air, putting both their livelihoods and their lives under threat.

The local population, who were already forced to migrate from their village in 1993 due to political pressure, say that they do not want to be displaced again and emphasized that mining operations must be carried out without harming the environment.

They are poisoning us, we do not want to migrate again

Gülşen Yaray said that both the dam and the mining activities are threatening their lives. She explained that the weather has changed since the dam was built and that the mine is causing more damage with each passing day: “The water is drying up, our garden is drying up, our crops are left without water. After the mountain, they tried to open a mine behind the village too, they dug with pickaxes and shovels, but they stopped. They are constantly opening new mines, and then earthquakes follow. We don’t want any more mines.”

Yaray said that the poisonous activities are affecting animals, plants, and people and added, “We migrated once, and we don’t want to migrate again. We have no chance to live anywhere else. We have no house, no source of income. I have three disabled children who cannot live anywhere else. Our village is here, our land is here, our past is here. We cannot live anywhere else but here.”

Clean water is disappearing

İsmail Yaray, another villager, said that after the opening of a mine three years ago in the lower part of the village, operations also began at the top of the hill, but were halted by a decision from the governor’s office.

Yaray said that despite this, the mine right next to the Pêrî Valley continues its operations and a pond of polluted water with an unknown source has formed next to the mine, flowing directly into the Pêrî Valley.

“Our animals drink this water, we drink it, vegetables are irrigated with it. The mine is mixing into the water; everything is being polluted. Clean water is disappearing,” said Yaray and emphasized that both nature and people are being harmed.

Yaray said that the risk of landslides is increasing and that their sources of livelihood are disappearing. He added, “The companies only think about themselves. There’s no benefit for the people living here. They say they’re doing it properly, but the flowers and trees are gone, even beekeeping is in danger.”