Turkey's economic emergence has brought with it fears of increased environmental degradation. As Turkey's economy experienced high levels of growth in the mid-1990s, the country's boom in industrial production resulted in higher levels of pollution and greater risks to the country's environment. With domestic energy consumption on the rise, Turkey has been forced to import more oil and gas, and the resultant increase in oil tanker traffic in the Black Sea and Bosporus Straits has increased environmental threats there.
With Turkey now a formal candidate for membership in the European Union, Turkey's environmental record will come under heavy scrutiny. In 1983, Turkey promulgated the country's overarching "Environmental Law," and a national Ministry of Environment was created in 1991. Turkey is building an extensive network of hydroelectric energy sources in the southeast part of the country, and cleaner-burning natural gas is moving to replace coal in power generation.
The importance of strong environmental protection measures, as well as the fragility of Turkey's environment, was driven home recently by catastrophe that struck the Tisza and Danube rivers in southeast Europe. After a reservoir wall at a gold mine in Romania collapsed, cyanide-tainted water was dumped into the Tisza River, and the toxic spill killed thousands of fish in Hungary as it flowed downstream into the Danube. Although the spill was supposed to be diluted by the time it reached the Black Sea, and it was not expected to cause any damage there or in the Marmara Sea, Turkey took no chances, taking water samples in the Bosporus Straits to measure any effects from the toxic spill.
Marine Pollution Although Turkey escaped the full brunt of the cyanide pollution from the Romanian mine accident, it has not been so fortunate with pollution from oil spills that have affected the shores of the Anatolian peninsula.
Increased shipping traffic through the narrow Bosporus Straits has heightened fears of a major accident that could have serious environmental consequences and endanger the health of the 12 million residents of Istanbul that live on either side of the Straits.
The Straits--a 19-mile channel with 12 abrupt, angular windings--have witnessed an increase in shipping traffic since the end of the Cold War to the point that over 45,000 vessels per year (one every 12 minutes) now pass through them. This increased congestion has led to a growing number of accidents; between 1988 and 1992, there were 155 collisions in the Straits.
With the high volume of oil being shipped through the Bosporus, oil tanker accidents can release large quantities of oil into the marine environment. This danger was underscored in March 1994, when the Greek Cypriot tanker Nassia collided with another ship, killing 30 seamen and spilling 20,000 tons of oil into the Straits. The resulting oil slick turned the waters of the Bosporus into a raging inferno for five days, but because the accident occurred in the Straits a few miles north of the city, a potential urban disaster was averted
Carbon Emissions: Turkey's carbon emissions have risen in line with the country's energy consumption. Since 1980, Turkey's energy-related carbon emissions have jumped from 18 million metric tons annually to 47.1 million metric tons in 1998. Once again, while this is low compared to other IEA countries, the upward trend and the rate of increase are alarming.
Turkey is not a party to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or the Kyoto Protocol, meaning the country has no binding requirements to cut carbon emissions by the 2008-2012 period as most other IEA countries have. However, Turkey has established a National Climate Coordination Group (NCCG) to carry out the national studies in line with those conducted by all countries of the UNFCC. The Climate Coordination Group has published several influential findings, including the "National Report on the Protection of the Atmosphere and Climate Change" and a "National Report on Energy and Technology."
By Hakan Samat
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