Our burning forests are growing green again with Turkey-Korea friendship
The last of the Turkey-Korea Friendship Forests, where saplings were planted in Antalya, Nevşehir, Kilis, Istanbul and Muğla in the past months, will be established in the Kadirli district of Osmaniye. Turkish Ambassador Won Ik Lee, representing the people of South Korea, will attend the sapling planting ceremony to be held on Thursday, March 3, 2022. When the plantings are completed, approximately 150 thousand saplings donated by Korean nature lovers will meet with the soil.
Saplings donated by Korean nature lovers who supported the “We Have the Root – The Green Homeland for All of Us” campaign launched by the Environmental Organizations Solidarity Association (ÇEKUD) with the aim of greening the areas damaged by the forest fires that occurred in different regions of Turkey during the summer months, this time meet the soil in Osmaniye.
The sixth and last of the Turkey-Korea Friendship Forests, where saplings have been planted in Antalya, Nevşehir, Kilis, Istanbul and Muğla in the past months, are being established in the rural area of Karatepe village in Osmaniye’s Kadirli district. The sapling planting ceremony, which will be held on Thursday, March 3, 2022, is expected to be accompanied by hundreds of nature lovers, especially South Korea’s Ambassador to Turkey Won Ik Lee.
TURKEY – KOREA FRIENDSHIP GROWING WITH SEEDLINGS
Under the coordination of the General Directorate of Forestry, 10 thousand saplings donated by the Korean people will be planted in the Turkey – Korea Friendship Forest in the Karatepe village of Osmaniye. Osmaniye, Kadirli and the surrounding cities are also important as they are places where Korean martyrs and veterans live intensely. When the plantings planned within the scope of the Turkey-Korea Friendship Forest project are completed, approximately 150 thousand saplings donated by Korean nature lovers will meet with the soil.
CALL FROM ÇEKUD PRESIDENT DEBİK
Reminding that Turkey’s friendship with the Korean people dates back to ancient times, ÇEKUD President Prof. Dr. Eyüp Debik said, “The bond between Turkey and Korea is always alive and strong as two friends running to each other in difficult times. We have seen the final fruit of this relationship of power and trust, which will set an example for the peoples of the world, when our Korean friends, who acted with a promise made at the Olympics, donated nearly 150,000 saplings to our country in a short time. We have witnessed closely how friendship turns into forests. We would like to express our gratitude to our General Directorate of Forestry, Korea’s Ambassador to Turkey Won Ik Lee, nature-loving Korean people and environmentalists for their unwavering support throughout this process. We invite the relatives of our Korean martyrs and veterans, and environmental friends in Osmaniye, Kadirli and nearby cities, to our sapling planting ceremony to make Karatepe green again.”
HOW DID THE IDEA OF TURKEY – KOREA FRIENDSHIP FORESTS FORM?
In the Olympics held in Tokyo last year, our national team lost the Turkey – South Korea women’s volleyball match. South Korea Volleyball National Team Captain Kim Yeon-koung, in the interview he gave to the press after the match, stated that there were big forest fires in our country and invited sports fans to donate saplings to Turkey. All of a sudden, the Korean agenda became the forests in Turkey and Turkish friendship. Korean nature lovers donated nearly 150 thousand saplings over ÇEKUD’s donation platform www.DikiliAgacimVar.com in a month. In consultation with the Turkish Embassy of South Korea, it was decided to create a “Turkey-Korea Friendship Forest” in 6 cities determined under the coordination of the General Directorate of Forestry. When the saplings are planted in Antalya, Nevşehir, Kilis, Istanbul, Muğla and Osmaniye, approximately 150 thousand saplings donated by Korean nature lovers will meet with the soil.
About ÇEKUD
Environmental Organizations Solidarity Association (ÇEKUD) was established in 1999 with the aim of protecting the nature we live in and raising public awareness about the environment. Society; has determined its mission as contributing to the formation of a livable and sustainable world by increasing the environmental and moral awareness in the society, in accordance with the purpose of existence of all beings, in order to restore the balance that has been disrupted between nature and human beings. ÇEKUD is a non-governmental organization that continues its activities in 15 regions, 81 provinces and 21 countries with thousands of environment and nature friendly volunteers in the status of public benefit. Determining its target audience as the 8 billion human family, ÇEKUD strives to raise environmental awareness, to develop environmental ethics, to propose and produce permanent solutions to environmental problems, and to implement important projects in this field through conferences, symposiums and competitions it organizes on nature and the environment, especially on forestation. ÇEKUD, which implemented Zero Residue on the Table, Carbonmeter measuring carbon footprint, certified online sapling donation system DikiliAgacimVar.com and holding the record for planting saplings in 81 provinces at the same time, is known by the public as a non-governmental organization that brings together millions of saplings in Turkey. CEKUD.org.tr
