Interview with actress Pelin Batu, chairwoman of the jury during the public hearing in Istanbul, Turkey

Is this the first time you participate in a jury like this? Yes, in the past I participated as a juror in film and theater festivals, but this is the first time I do it in an environmental jury. I find this more amusing.

More amusing? Yes!  Because the former ones are mostly about esthetics, as oppose to this one in which you can do something for the people and have an impact on the world.

As a member of the jury? The Heinrich Böell Institute contacted me. Over the last five years, I´ve been committed to many environmental groups and campaigns, therefore as soon as they contacted me, I wasn´t much surprised because I´m called upon often for events on environmental and power related issues in Istanbul, though I hadn´t done it before as a juror ….

As a matter of fact, you were involved in the Ilisu project. Did that affect your objectivity?  The jury split in different cases, so I decided not to get involved in the Hasan Cave case. I took the Yusufeli case instead, which I did not previously get involved in, so I did not question my objectivity since I did not get involved in it as a civilian…
I try to be as objective as possible, but when they talk to you about ten thousand years of archaeological heritage and people living in it and wildlife, you cannot only think about it in economic terms and figures. I deem the documentary issue in all cases much more important than governmental projections and hydroelectric projects….. 

¿Hence, what solutions did you come up with..?  As a jury, we made a general judgment on all cases since they were very similar. People´s situation is not taken into consideration, in the sense that their biodiversity is rich, the presence of endemic species is totally ignored and in some cases is not even profitable from an economic point of view!

¿Can you give an advice as a jury? Yes!  We did indeed. And that was: “listen to the local people, because this people live there, and if they are displaced and relocated to large cities, is not good for anyone because neither the cities ´settlers nor they will get adapted to it”

Secondly, the environment is a lot more important than the momentary economics and policies, because you may plan something ahead for this particular instant or for the next 20 years, but if in the midterm the environment has been wiped out, the repercussions for the country, the economy and the world will be much worse.  We believe that not only in Turkey, but worldwide, we ought to think globally. People tend to be very aggressive with the environment they think they possess, but then we have problems such as global warming or the extinction of life forms. These repercussions are huge; according to many scientists nearly 50% of all species will disappear in the next few years! And maybe you wonder what is the importance of a scarab or a little frog.. Nonetheless, a slight change in this cycle on which we all depend, could have enormous repercussions.  

¿Do you believe the Turkish government will pay attention to this court´s resolutions? I hope so. Well, as you witnessed no governmental representative attended the hearing on behalf of the defendants, which is a proof of utter ignorance. It seems that they do not mind this, but I believe that if we continue fighting this way, sooner or later their policies will change… if we say, oh! The government does not listen and there´s nothing else to do…we lose anyway. But well, we would be worse off if we had nothing to say. The other party would be much stronger. Personally, not as a member of the jury, I notice that one party is much stronger than the other…..   

¿And you believe people involved in the film making industry should get more involved in this reality? It doesn´t matter how well we talk, how loud we shout or how many signatures we collect…among all the protests we make, the most effective one is, I believe, to watch a movie, a play, to listen to the music, because you know… when you do not only reach out the mind but also the feelings, a substantial difference is made, when you are affected by something precious there is a difference with the straight messages given by the tribunals, courts and journalists. I believe in the power of arts to trigger a change in the world, and that there are also good people who could do it. 

¿Could a documentary be made? If a footage on this is broadcasted, many more people would get involved and this documentary would have to be distributed, above all, in schools. For instance, I went to high schools the last few years, where they see art as something magical. If this has a positive impact on their mindset, they will be more aware of what happens and will continue fighting for it.

¿Do you believe that not complying with the environmental regulations might affect Turkey in its intention to join the European Union? To me it isn´t that important “European Union yes or no”, but the fact that Turkey belongs to the world and one of my problems is that I don´t believe in boundaries, the environmental damage has repercussions on…

And the verdicts have proposed some alternatives, ¿Haven´t they? Yes, because in terms of ecotourism or power generation alternatives, these are very privileged places. For example, Yusufeli is the second white water rafting area in the world, if the dam is built, it will be lost. Hasancave could be a pilgrimage destination not just for the locals, but for people around the world… just imagine, a 12,000 year old settlement, is awesome!, as for Yusufeli, there are also buildings that date back from the thirteenth century…the point that I´m trying to make is that all this should be declared UNESCO´s world heritage. In just a small zone of Ilisu, there are 123 different endemic species, think about how rich the entire valley is….In two out of the three cases, those areas had a great wind power potential.

¿Do you believe there will be more courts such as this one? I truly hope so. One of the problems in Turkey is that we are easily impressed, and all of a sudden, many people and he mass media pay attention to these conflicts…but everything is forgotten afterwards. I wish a court of this type is scheduled every year.