5th Turkey – Korea Friendship Forest

While forest fires in Turkey continue in the summer months, 30 thousand of the approximately 150 thousand saplings donated by Korean nature lovers are meeting with soil in Milas district of Muğla. Won Ik Lee, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Turkey, who attended the sapling planting ceremony, said, “With the saplings we planted in Muğla, the burned areas will sprout and the friendship between Korea and Turkey will deepen.”

The saplings donated by the Korean nature lovers who support the “We Have the Root – The Green Homeland is All of Us” campaign, initiated by ÇEKUD with the aim of greening the areas damaged by the forest fires in different regions of Turkey in the summer months, continue to meet the soil. ÇEKUD, which has added the saplings of donors in Turkey to the approximately 150 thousand saplings donated by Korean nature lovers, continues to establish Turkey-Korea Friendship Forest in different cities of our country.

After Antalya, Nevşehir, Kilis and Istanbul, the fifth of the friendship forest is being implemented in Muğla. South Korea’s Ambassador to Turkey Won Ik Lee also attended the sapling planting ceremony held in the afforestation area of ​​Akyol village in Milas district. In the Turkey-Korea Friendship Forest in Milas, a total of 32 thousand 500 thousand saplings, of which 30 thousand were donated by Korean nature lovers and 2 thousand 500 by the friends of the teacher Nurselin, will be planted.

“I will plant saplings one by one to represent the Korean people”

In his speech at the sapling planting ceremony, Won Ik Lee, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Turkey, said that he was honored to participate in the sapling planting ceremonies of the Turkey-Korea Friendship Forest. Ambassador Lee, who conveyed his condolences and condolences on behalf of the Republic of Korea to the Turkish people affected by the forest fires that took place throughout the country, especially in Muğla, said, “I am very happy to participate in this meaningful event on behalf of the Korean people and to bring the saplings to the soil with you as a token of our friendship.”

“I wish the Korea-Turkey friendship to deepen even more”

Ambassador Won Ik Lee said, “The sacrifices of Turkish veterans in the Korean War constitute a solid foundation for the development of relations between the two countries, and I wish the world-famous resort city of Muğla to be even greener with today’s sapling planting ceremony, and at the same time, I wish that the relations with Korea will be greener. I hope the friendship between Turkey deepens. I would like to express my thanks once again to the officials of the General Directorate of Forestry, Milas Municipality, Turkish Environmental Organizations Solidarity Association (ÇEKUD), who made every effort to create the Korea-Turkey Friendship Forest, and to everyone who gathered here today to plant saplings.”

“Turkey-Korea friendship will take root with saplings”

Reminding that they started a “We Have Roots” campaign with the slogan “Green Homeland for All of Us” in order to contribute to the re-greening of burned forest areas, ÇEKUD President Prof. Dr. Eyüp Debik said, “While our campaign was continuing, we encountered the favor of our Korean friends, with whom we are close by heart despite the distance. After the Turkey-Korea Volleyball match, upon the call for sapling donation made by the Captain of the Republic of Korea Volleyball National Team Kim Yeon-kyoung, tens of thousands of Korean nature lovers donated more than 130,000 saplings to Turkey in a few weeks via dikiliagacimvar.com, and today this figure is close to 150,000. . We would like to thank the Korean nature lovers for their support for the greening of the areas damaged by forest fires in Turkey, and we would like to express our gratitude for choosing ÇEKUD and our www.dikiliagacimvar.com donation site for sapling donations.”

“Our friendship will take root when the saplings turn into trees”

President Debik said, “Due to this appreciation of our Korean friends, we, as ÇEKUD, decided to establish Turkey-Korea Friendship Forests. We aimed to establish Turkey-Korea Friendship Forests in Antalya, Istanbul, Nevşehir, Kilis, Osmaniye and Muğla, which are also heavily preferred by Korean tourists. We are here today to bring the fifth of the friendship forest to life. We will reach our goal with the planting in Osmaniye, which we will carry out on February 22, 2022. We are sure that our friendship will take root when carefully planted saplings turn into trees. Both during the continuation of the donations and the creation of the Friendship Forests, the Korean Ambassador, My Dear Friend Won Ik Lee, did not fail to show their interest and support. I would like to express my gratitude to them for their close interest and support.”

Muğla Deputy Governor Caner Yıldız, who attended the ceremony, gave information about Turkey’s forest fire response activities. Erdal Dingil, Deputy Regional Director of Forestry, stated that our Korean veterans’ participation in the Korean War in the 1950s is the basis of relations between the two countries.

After the ceremony, 30 thousand of the approximately 150 thousand saplings donated by Korean nature lovers began to be planted in the afforestation area of ​​Akyol village of Milas with the participation of hundreds of nature lovers. The sixth of Turkey-Korea Friendship Forest will be established in Osmaniye Kadirli after Antalya, Nevşehir, Kilis, Istanbul and Muğla.