Environmentalism

Abstract

Before the 2000s, Turkey’s environmental scorecard was not very good. It makes sense to take the military coup of 1980 as a turning point. Neoliberal government policies implemented in the aftermath of the coup aggravated already-existing environmental problems. The coup crushed and weakened leftist movements in Turkey. Right-wing governments dominated in the Turkish parliament and were keen to apply the new neoliberal policies. But the AKP government that came to power after 2002 has been the strongest implementer of neoliberal policies thus far. If we compare Turkey to other countries, we should underline that current government representatives have a conceptual void in terms of environmental issues. In Turkey, one of the top five countries in ship dismantling, we are without proper environmental regulation. Such a lack of government regulation of these types of hazardous materials is only seen in underdeveloped, low-income countries.