1. How do you assess the long-term effects of climate change on Türkiye and the world?
With capitalism—a system that commodifies every entity on earth and leads to the alienation of humans from nature and all forms of life along with their own labor—the hierarchical relationship in which humans perceive their own existence as superior to nature and all living beings has deepened. As a reflection of this illusion that humans are above other life forms, today, the world stands on the brink of destruction.
The collapse of ecosystems and the climate crisis, which we are currently facing, are the most evident consequences of this distorted relationship. Therefore, what we call climate change is not a natural transformation occurring independently in nature, the earth, and the climate, but rather an irreversible crisis caused by the human-made order and its anthropocentric priorities.
In Türkiye, the plundering of forests, incentives for coal mines, and mega projects irreversibly destroy ecosystems. Water resources are diminishing; while drought is a problem for some countries, excessive rainfall threatens agricultural production in others. Local populations bear the heaviest burden of the climate crisis in their own lands.
With the aim of maximizing profit, the entire planet is being made available for exploitation by capital groups, making social injustice more visible alongside climate injustice. Climate change is a reflection of a power imbalance that deepens inequalities, increases displacements, and affects the most vulnerable communities.
In countries like Türkiye, centralized governments often prioritize projects that protect the interests of large corporations, ignoring ecological concerns. This demonstrates that the struggles of local populations to protect their living spaces and secure basic rights such as food and water are part of a multidimensional injustice.
Although Türkiye signed the Paris Climate Agreement in 2021, it has not acted accordingly. According to the 2022 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Türkiye ranks 18th among the countries with the highest carbon emissions. While countries like the United Kingdom have closed all their coal mines to meet carbon emission targets, Turkey has not taken any such initiative and continues to approve new coal mines.
On the other hand, July 2024 was the hottest July in Turkey in the past 53 years. Globally, record-high temperatures were recorded in 2023–2024. This increase is reflected in the number of wildfires. In Turkey, there were 1,285 wildfires in 2023, burning 8,726 hectares of forest. In the first eight months of 2024 alone, 3,022 fires occurred, affecting 25,355 hectares of forest. These figures show that the burned forest area has tripled. Therefore, it is not accurate to claim that wildfires occur because of climate change; rather, they are a result of the crisis. Similarly, sudden and localized heavy rains causing floods are also consequences of this crisis. The flood disaster in Valencia, Spain, where 227 people lost their lives in recent months, demonstrates that the climate crisis is not just a regional issue but a global one.
Thus, while Türkiye and the world are affected by this crisis, they are also responsible for it. Although initiatives like the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) serve as important steps for holding countries accountable for the consequences of the crisis, the reluctance shown in annual meetings, the setbacks in commitments, and the disparities in contribution declarations indicate that solving this profoundly serious problem will not be easy. For all these reasons, the long-term global impacts of the crisis necessitate a comprehensive, multidimensional, and global struggle.
2. What are the primary goals of your political party in addressing climate change?
DEM Party does not view the climate crisis merely as an ecological issue but also considers it within the framework of social justice, democracy, and human rights struggles. Among the political parties operating in Türkiye and represented in parliament, it is the only party that places the ecological struggle at the center of its political agenda. Under the leadership of our DEM Party Ecology Commission, our priority is to halt ecocide projects that open agricultural lands, plateaus, pastures, forests, steppe areas, coasts, rivers, lakes, and seas to zoning, energy, mining, and tourism investments, and to enact laws that criminalize such practices.
Another important goal is to abandon the mindset that treats natural assets as mere resources for profit and rent by capital and to promote democratization in the energy production and consumption sector by supporting local cooperatives through a participatory public administration approach. Instead of central administration and planning, we prioritize encouraging local governance and ensuring the participation of local communities in decision-making processes in the fight against climate change.
Our priority also includes developing fair, gradual, and inclusive economic models that serve both nature and society, in collaboration with local communities, rather than allowing mining operations, thermal power plants, and similar industries to exploit both nature and laborers. Transitioning to renewable energy sources, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, imposing consumption restrictions, halting nuclear power plant projects, and reallocating investments and incentive budgets from these areas to afforestation efforts are also key aspects of our policies.
Supporting small farmers in agriculture and promoting agroecological methods is another crucial issue. We aim to encourage the use of water-saving and climate-adaptive techniques in agricultural production, localize food production, and prioritize self-sufficiency. Therefore, our primary objective is to implement an approach that fundamentally transforms the ecological crisis caused by existing economic policy choices. By establishing production and relationship networks from the local to the national level, we seek to create and implement awareness-driven ecological policies.
Nevroz Uysal Aslan
Member of Parliament for Şırnak, DEM Party
Who is Nevroz Uysal Aslan ?
Şırnak – 1991, Hasan, Güli.
Lawyer; graduated from İstanbul University Faculty of Law in 2014. Worked as an independent attorney registered with the Diyarbakır Bar Association. Served as a Board Member of the Libertarian Lawyers Association Istanbul Branch and as a Founding Member and Executive Board Member of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom. Presented papers on prison isolation, women's rights, human rights, and reconciliation at various national and international platforms.
Currently serves as a Clerk Member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) Human Rights Inquiry Committee.
Uysal Aslan speaks intermediate-level English, is married, and has one child.
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