The last day of the villagers' "olive vigil" in Ankara: "This was the beginning, our struggle will continue in the villages."

Villagers who came to Ankara from various provinces to oppose the opening of olive groves to mining activities ended the "olive watch" that began on July 3 in Cemal Süreya Park near the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

The villagers, who thanked the people of Ayrancı and Ankara, were also supported by CHP Ankara Provincial Women's Branch Chair Ayça Çağlar and the CHP District Women's Branch on the last day of the olive watch at Cemal Süreya Park.

Speaking on behalf of the villagers, Esra Işık said, "We are here to say, 'You cannot harm our hope and solidarity.'" Işık's mother, Necla Işık, said, "We tried to express our determination in this case and give a voice to their consciences... Their consciences, which don't exist. Because their consciences were here with us. This is the law of the AKP, MHP, and corporations. We will never accept this law."

One of the villagers participating in the resistance said, "We are walking on the principles Atatürk showed us. We didn't just come here from Muğla and the Aegean Region. Because every part of Türkiye is being plundered. Three people are making us play like monkeys, right in front of everyone's eyes. This can't be happening. Take this law and make it your own."

"WE WILL FIGHT TO PREVENT SOMA FROM HAPPENING AGAIN"

An agricultural engineer who took the floor said that he had witnessed what happened in the Soma process and expressed his concerns that the same thing would happen in Muğla, saying:

For nearly 25 years, the AKP government has taken everything the villagers had. They claimed in parliament that olives weren't our concern. As an agricultural engineer, I was ashamed to see my colleagues paying for thousand-year-old or two-thousand-year-old olive trees, even though they knew they couldn't be moved, and then they said they were. We absolutely reject the company and holding laws they've passed. I come from Kınık, Izmir. I witnessed the process in which 301 Soma workers lost their lives in the mines. What happened in Soma will happen in Muğla too. First, they take our land. Then they put us in the mines. And in that mine, they kill us like insects. We will fight to prevent another Soma. We will show in the coming period that villagers are not the villagers of corporations.

"WE ARE READY TO DIE FOR THIS LAND. ARE YOU READY?"

A citizen, recalling the struggle in Akbelen, addressed former Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank and said:

"They know they're wrong, and that's why they couldn't do anything to us. We're not afraid. When we claim our lands, they stand up to us. We experienced this in Akbelen as well. I'm calling out to Mr. Varank: last time, you sent a thousand gendarmes, you sent five toma cannons to one village. Send two thousand, send two thousand, come yourself, if you have the courage, we're ready to die for these lands. Are you ready?"

Villagers who came to Ankara from various provinces after the law began to be discussed in the Turkish Grand National Assembly have been keeping watch in Cemal Süreya Park near the Parliament since July 3.

The villagers, who concluded their vigil today after the bill was passed into law, stated, "This was just the beginning for us. From now on, our struggle will continue in the villages and forests. We will show in the upcoming struggle that the villagers are the masters of the nation, not the peasants of corporations." They stated that they will not give up their struggle.