İYİ Party leader criticizes gov’t for ‘late’ response to ‘sea snot’ problem

ANKARA

Opposition İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener has criticized the government for not doing enough to protect the environment.

“Today, there is a government that does not protect its trees, forests and seas,” she said, addressing her party’s parliamentary group meeting on June 9.

The Sea of Marmara is “dying,” she said and warned against an expected earthquake in Istanbul. “We will not allow that cheap channel. This project is not a project but a heist plan,” Akşener noted.

The “sea snot,” or mucilage, problem in the Sea of Marmara is not a new incident, it first appeared in 2007 and can only be cleared in two years, she said.

Akşener criticized the government for responding late to the problem. When it resurfaced, scientists alerted relevant authorities, especially the Environment and Urbanization Ministry, she stated.

“What did the ministry do? By mid-May, he said, this was just an ordinary increase of plankton, there was no need to even take samples. In the last week, when mucilage surrounded our shores and came on the agenda, finally the ministry decided to make an emergency action plan,” Akşener said.

She slammed the government for insisting on constructing Canal Istanbul, deemed controversial by the opposition due to the possible effects it can create on the environment.