Communist Party of Canada declared its support for the people’s protest against the gold and silver mining project conducted by the Canadian gold company, Alamos Gold in Çanakkale, Turkey.
Sharing on social media the news reported by soL international upon the demonstration march in Çanakkale and the related prior TKP statement, the party expressed its view on the issue concisely.
The statement reads “Thousands of people marched to a mining site to protest the destruction of hundreds of thousands of trees by Canadian gold company Alamos Gold.
Canadian monopolies & Canadian imperialism are scourges across the globe, harming people and the land.
Such industrial deforestation exacerbates the worst effects of climate change, hastening soil erosion, gravely damaging the land. The gold mine which follows will be even worse. And this is all to feed the profits of a Canadian mining corporation.”
Thousands of people marched to a mining site to protest the destruction of hundreds of thousands of trees by Canadian gold company Alamos Gold.
Canadian monopolies & Canadian imperialism are scourges across the globe, harming people and the land.https://t.co/yzLWBbOs3s— CommunistPartyCanada (@compartycanada) August 6, 2019
Furthermore, as the party’s youth organization the Young Communist League (YCL) declared solidarity with TKP on the matter.
#Solidarité avec les militant-es de Çanakkale en lutte contre @AlamosGoldInc #Solidarity with Çanakkale activists struggling against @AlamosGoldInc @tkpinter @TKPCANAKKALE https://t.co/tpjuInXr2q pic.twitter.com/HedFhJLx7L
— YCL Canada (@YCLCanada) August 6, 2019
"IT IS NOT US BUT THE GOVERNMENT": ALAMOS GOLD CEO
The CEO of the Canadian Alamos Gold who has ruined thousands of trees in Kaz Mountains in Çanakkale, McCluskey made a statement regarding the issue as well.
“It is not us, but the government who cut down the trees!”, says McCluskey accusing the Turkish government.
Defining the protests of the citizens as “politically driven disinformation” and criticizing the demonstrations alike, McCluskey claimed that the cyanide used in mining would not leak and contaminate the surrounding territory.
Interviewed by Reuters, McCluskey asserted that the mining location in Kaz Mountains would be restored back at the end of the six-and-a-half-year project.
Remarking that it was not Alamos Gold but the governmental units themselves who cut down the trees, McCluskey stated “We made a down payment for this. You need to consider that we have paid 5 million USD for permissions pursuant to forestry requirements. The top element for this payment is about reforestation.”
Contrary to the government officials, McCluskey also said cyanide agent would be used in the mining process but only at the end of the excavation and with all precautions against leakage.
