Land conflicts arise as Lake Marmara dries up

MANİSA – Demirören News Agency

Lake Marmara, a major bird sanctuary in the western province of Manisa, has dried up due to drought, causing families to fight over land conflict.

While one person lost his life and two people were injured in four separate land fights on the lake, three of the eight people detained were arrested.

The Nature Conservation and National Parks (DKMP) imposed a penalty of 550,417 Turkish Liras ($31,000) on 88 people who occupied the lake.

In the lake, which offers shelter to some 20,000 waterfowl, including endangered bird species, such as dalmatian pelicans and cormorants, the fishing activities have come to a complete halt.

The lake, which has been a source of livelihood of a number of families in the surrounding neighborhoods, was occupied by the farmers and opened to agriculture.

The lands in the lake should be used under the control of the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSI) until the current project is completed and the lake is full of water, according to Manisa Governor Yaşar Karadeniz.

“We sent a petition to the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry regarding this, and a meeting was held with the military police in order to increase the existing measures to prevent the invasion of the lake,” Karadeniz added.

“Everyone is out to plunder the lake land with their harvester and tractor. People started beating and hitting each other,” said Rafet Kerse, the head of the aquaculture cooperative in Manisa’s Gölmarmara district.