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Cases / Water use · Türkiye · 2000

Cargill's Turkish factory kept operating despite court annulments

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Cargill's Orhangazi factory in Bursa kept running after Turkish courts annulled its permits and the European Court of Human Rights found the non-enforcement violated a fair trial. The sources reviewed do not confirm the factory's groundwater use.

What?
The Orhangazi factory kept operating despite annulments by Turkish courts and an ECHR ruling on non-enforcement. Başka Gazete
Where?
Orhangazi district, Bursa province, Türkiye
When?
Factory operating since 2000; annulments from 1998; amnesty in 2008; ECHR ruling in 2018; Bursa cancellations in 2023
Who?
Gained
  • Cargill — Kept its Orhangazi factory running after the annulments, and benefited from the 2008 amnesty for unlicensed facilities Bianet
Lost
  • Farmland at Orhangazi — The factory sits on first-class agricultural land ANKA
  • Unnamed plaintiffs who won the annulments — Annulment decisions were not implemented Başka Gazete
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Parliament amended the Soil Conservation Law in 2008 to cover unlicensed facilities, after a motion by AKP MPs. Bianet
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Bianet reported in April 2008 that Parliament re-passed an amendment to the Soil Conservation Law, introduced by AKP MPs, which gave amnesty to unlicensed facilities, including Cargill's.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled unanimously in 2018 that the failure to implement court decisions violated the right to a fair trial.

BirGün reported in April 2025 that 11 cancellation decisions had not been implemented.

Başka Gazete reported in 2025 that the Bursa factory continued operating despite 11 cancellation decisions.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. Claimant won
      Orhangazi Special Industrial Zone designation
      Council of State (Danıştay) · Administrative · →

      The Council of State annulled the zone designation; the provincial governorship did not apply the stay-of-execution orders, bianet reported. Bianet

    2. 2023Claimant won
      Bursa licence annulment
      Bursa Administrative Court · Administrative · →

      The court annulled the factory's licences in 2023; the regional appeal court rejected the appeal in 2024, and the decisions were not implemented, Başka Gazete reported. Başka Gazete

    3. 2018Claimant won
      ECHR application 25680/05
      European Court of Human Rights · Civil · → Türkiye

      The court ruled unanimously that the non-implementation of court decisions violated the right to a fair trial. echrcaselaw.com

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the factory uses about 1 million cubic metres of groundwater a year.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not record a government response to the ECHR ruling.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not state the area of farmland affected.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators✓ Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Courts

    1. ECHR application 25680/05
      echrcaselaw.com · 2018

    Press and investigations

    2. Cargill istiyor, AKP veriyor
      BirGün · 2025-04-22

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Law and courts

    European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
    The Council of Europe's court in Strasbourg, which rules on complaints that a state has violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

    Science and environment

    Groundwater
    Water held underground in soil and rock, drawn through wells.
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