Milas–Yatağan olive groves opened to mining (Law 7554, temporary article 45)
- Government and regulators Law 7554, temporary article 45: Opens mapped olive groves in Milas and Yatağan to mining if the trees are moved or an equivalent olive grove is established. bianet
- Communities and civil society 77 producers on the map: Applied to the Council of State against the law. bianet
- Company or project YK Enerji: No public statement on the nature question is recorded in the sources reviewed.
A 2025 law added a temporary article to Turkey's Mining Law that opens mapped olive groves in Milas and Yatağan to mining if the trees are moved or an equivalent grove is established. Producers, courts and the Constitutional Court are now involved.
Record states a count only; no record was found of how many moved trees survive.
Status As of October 2026: Constitutional Court applications filed (September 2025, March 2026); Council of State and Milas court have stayed expropriation steps; no ruling found.
- Yatağan Termik and YK Enerji (a partnership of İçtaş and Limak) — Recorded as the beneficiaries of the exception; the article serves YK Enerji's Akbelen and İkizköy sites. bianet
- Producers whose olive groves are on the map — 77 of them went to the Council of State. bianet
- Mapped olive groves in Milas and Yatağan — Opened to mining; no record was found of how many moved trees survive. bianet
What happened
Turkey's Olive Cultivation Law (Law 3573, 1939), article 20, provides that an olive-grove area cannot be reduced, that no harmful facility may be built within 3 km of a grove, and that unauthorised removal of olive trees carries an administrative fine of 60 TL per tree. In 2022 an amendment to the Mining Regulation opened olive groves to mining; the Council of State (Danıştay) annulled it on 9 July 2024. In December 2022 an olive-grove article in an omnibus bill had been withdrawn after public reaction.
Law 7554, dated 24 July 2025, added temporary article 45 to the Mining Law. Under it, olive groves mapped in Milas and Yatağan are opened to mining if the trees are moved or an equivalent olive grove is established. The article gives coordinates. According to the research file, the article was adopted on 19 July 2025 by 255 votes to 199, and the same law treated permits left unanswered as granted and opened pasture and forest as well as olive groves.
The research file records Yatağan Termik and YK Enerji (a partnership of İçtaş and Limak) as the beneficiaries of the exception, and the producers on the map as those who lose land; 77 of them applied to the Council of State. The file also records a letter, reported by Halk TV, in which the company asked the Privatisation Administration for extra funds for areas it could not expropriate because of olive legislation. The Akbelen and İkizköy areas are those the article serves.
Two applications have been made to the Constitutional Court (September 2025 and March 2026). The Directorate General of Mining and Petroleum Affairs (MAPEG) found the transplanting of 5,093 olive trees in Milas suitable. A court in Milas stayed expropriation cases over 679 parcels in İkizköy until the Council of State decides, and the Council of State stayed execution for about 194 parcels. Earlier, at Akbelen, a court stayed action in 2021, lifted the stay in 2022, and in July 2023 YK Enerji felled trees under gendarmerie protection. Amnesty International recorded in 2026 a conviction in the Akbelen matter.
- 1939Law 3573: olive-grove area cannot be reduced; 60 TL fine per tree removed without permission
- 2021Akbelen: a court stays action (stay lifted 2022)
- 2022Mining Regulation amendment opens olive groves to mining; omnibus-bill olive article withdrawn in December
- 2023July: trees felled at Akbelen under gendarmerie protection
- 20249 July: Council of State annuls the 2022 regulation amendment
- 202519 July: article adopted in parliament; 24 July: Law 7554 adds temporary article 45; 77 producers apply to the Council of State; first Constitutional Court application (September)
- 2026Second Constitutional Court application (March); Milas court stays 679 parcels' expropriation cases; Council of State stays about 194 parcels; Amnesty records a conviction in the Akbelen matter
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Opens mapped olive groves in Milas and Yatağan to mining if the trees are moved or an equivalent olive grove is established.
bianetApplied to the Council of State against the law.
bianetNo public statement on the nature question is recorded in the sources reviewed.
Adopted the article on 19 July 2025; Law 7554 is dated 24 July 2025.
MedyascopeTwo applications were made (September 2025 and March 2026).
The Milas court stayed expropriation cases over 679 parcels in İkizköy until the Council of State decides; the Council of State stayed execution for about 194 parcels.
CumhuriyetHow it looked
Shown
- Trees are moved, or an equivalent olive grove is established: the condition written into the articleLaw 7554, temporary article 45 · bianet
Recorded
- Temporary article 45 opens mapped olive groves in Milas and Yatağan to mining; Yatağan Termik and YK Enerji are recorded as the beneficiaries, and 77 producers on the map applied to the Council of State.
- The Council of State annulled the 2022 Mining Regulation amendment that had opened olive groves to mining (9 July 2024).
- Expropriation and valuation cases in Akbelen were stopped until the Council of State's decision becomes final.
- An omnibus-bill article opening olive groves was withdrawn in December 2022 after public reaction.
- Felling began in Akbelen forest in July 2023.
- Law 3573, article 20: olive-grove area cannot be reduced; no harmful facility within 3 km; 60 TL administrative fine per tree removed without permission.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- yk-enerji: In a letter reported by Halk TV, the company asked the Privatisation Administration for additional funds for areas it could not expropriate because of olive legislation.
- tr-parliament (2025-07-19): Adopted the article on 19 July 2025, by 255 votes to 199 according to the sources reviewed; the law's stated condition is that trees are moved or an equivalent olive grove is established. · Medyascope
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2024-07-09Claimant won2022 Mining Regulation amendment opening olive groves to miningCouncil of State (Danıştay) · Administrative · Not named → Not named
The Council of State annulled the 2022 amendment to the Mining Regulation that had opened olive groves to mining. bianet
- 2025–OngoingProducers' application against Law 7554 (Council of State)Council of State (Danıştay) · Administrative · 77 producers from Milas and Yatağan → Not named
77 producers whose olive groves are on the map went to the Council of State against the law that opens the groves to mining. bianet
- 2025-09 and 2026-03–OngoingConstitutional Court applications against Law 7554Constitutional Court · Administrative · Applicants not named → Not named
Two applications were made to the Constitutional Court (September 2025 and March 2026). No ruling was found.
- OngoingExpropriation and valuation cases at Akbelen / İkizköyMilas court; Council of State · Administrative · Expropriating party not named → Not named
Expropriation was urgent for 679 parcels. The Council of State stayed execution for about 194 parcels, and the Milas court stayed the expropriation cases over the 679 parcels in İkizköy until the Council of State's decision. Cumhuriyet
- 2026Claimant wonConviction of an environmental defender in the Akbelen matterCourt not named · Criminal · Prosecution → An environmental defender (not named here)
The research file records that the defender was sentenced to 2 years 1 month in prison; the Amnesty document it cites is headlined as a conviction at Akbelen. Whether the sentence is final is not stated. Amnesty International
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
- Disputed Does moving the trees or establishing an equivalent olive grove make up for olive groves opened to mining?
Accounts
- Disputed Is the opening of mapped olive groves to mining lawful?
- None on record YK Enerji: No public statement on the nature question is recorded in the sources reviewed.
Record
- None on record No record was found of how many transplanted olive trees survive.
- None on record No Constitutional Court ruling on the two applications was found.
Did the harm stop?
Not stopped on the record: the law is in force, two Constitutional Court applications and Council of State proceedings are pending, and courts have stayed expropriation steps over parcels at İkizköy.
Who paid?
The research file records the mapped olive producers as those who lose land, and records no compensation measure for them.
Sources
Government and regulators
- Olive Cultivation Law, Law No. 3573 (1939)Mevzuat (official legislation database) · 1939
Press and investigations
- Olive-grove article removed from the omnibus bill proposalCumhuriyet · 2022
- Bill on olive groves adopted in parliament (headline translated from Turkish)Medyascope · 2025-07-19
- Felling began in Akbelen forest to expand the coal area (headline translated from Turkish)Yetkin Report · 2023-07-26
Communities and civil society
- Conviction at Akbelen (document EUR 44/1143/2026)Amnesty International · 2026
Connected cases
- Akbelen forest defender sentenced after 2023 felling for coal mine Turkey · 2023–2026
- YK Enerji (İçtaş and Limak partnership) (Company) — here: Partnership of İçtaş and Limak; recorded beneficiary; there: Company for which the trees were cut
- Yatağan Termik (Company) — here: Power plant operator; recorded beneficiary; there: Coal plant named as a gainer under the 2025 olive-grove article
- Akbelen forest felling for YK Enerji coal mine (Türkiye) Türkiye · 2021–2026
- YK Enerji (İçtaş and Limak partnership) (Company) — here: Partnership of İçtaş and Limak; recorded beneficiary; there: Owner of coal-fired power plants; mining operator at Akbelen (Limak and İçtaş partnership)
- Council of State lets 60 informal neighbourhoods stay in Bogotá reserve buffer Colombia · 2013
- Council of State (Danıştay) (Court) — here: Council of State; annulled 2022 regulation amendment; stayed execution for about 194 parcels; there: Court that issued the ruling
- Çeşme wind farm olive grove partly registered to Treasury despite 2014 halt Turkey · 2013–2014
- Council of State (Danıştay) (Court) — here: Council of State; annulled 2022 regulation amendment; stayed execution for about 194 parcels; there: Stayed the expropriation in 2014
- European court found Turkish permit for Bergama cyanide gold mine breached privacy Turkey · 2004
- Council of State (Danıştay) (Court) — here: Council of State; annulled 2022 regulation amendment; stayed execution for about 194 parcels; there: Annulled the permit; the mine was reported to keep operating
- Turkish court annulls Loç Valley hydropower approval; 117 villagers on trial Turkey · 2011–2020
- Council of State (Danıştay) (Court) — here: Council of State; annulled 2022 regulation amendment; stayed execution for about 194 parcels; there: Rejected the company's objection