In Diyarbakır hydraulic fracturing projects used to extract oil and shale gas are rapidly increasing. Expanding zones with licences granted without an EIA create an ecological destruction risk for the Dicle Basin and the Hevsel Gardens.
Although hydraulic fracturing is banned in many countries, especially the US, it is rapidly increasing in Diyarbakır. This method aimed at reaching shale gas and tight oil reserves is defined by experts as "the most aggressive form of ecological destruction".
Since 2023 a total area of 121,522 hectares for oil and shale gas extraction projects has either been granted an exemption from the EIA requirement or had an EIA process launched. In the same period 76 projects were granted EIA exemptions.
The most intensive activity is in Sur district with 16 projects. There are 12 in Bismil, 10 in Çınar, 7 in Silvan and 6 in Ergani. The projects are carried out by TPAO, Çalık Holding and the US company TransAtlantic which operates in Turkey although it is banned in its own country.
Reminding that hydraulic fracturing is the process of breaking rocks deep underground and extracting the gas and oil inside them, Umut Şener from Polen Ecology Collective drew attention to the dependence of fracking on water. Şener said "A single well consumes 10 to 30 million litres of fresh water. For this reason dams are turned into infrastructure for fracking, the state holds the water and gives it to the companies". Şener stated that Diyarbakır is under the siege of dams, water infrastructure, oil-gas extraction activities and metal mining and said "This picture means an irreversible threat for the Dicle Basin and the Hevsel Gardens".
Ahmet İnan, a lawyer from the Diyarbakır Bar Association, said that the Dicle gives an alarm both because of pollution and legal uncertainty and reminded that the 100 kilometre section of the river between Bismil and Hevsel is not officially classified as a river. İnan said "For this reason the area is surrounded by sand quarries, factories and agricultural chemicals. The water is visibly foamy and dirty, at some points it has dried and turned into soil. The Bar Association applied for the Dicle to be granted river status but the administration did not respond within the legal period".
"These investments are not Turkey's energy they are the companies' colonial policy" said Derya Sever from Polen Ecology Collective and summarises the risks posed by hydraulic fracturing which threatens the ecosystem in Diyarbakır as follows:
* Groundwater is poisoned due to excessive water consumption and more than 600 toxic chemicals.
* Farmland is destroyed, access to food is endangered.
* The local population is dispossessed through expropriation and licence expansion policies.
* Chemicals pose serious health risks for workers and local people.
* The ecosystem is damaged, biodiversity is irreversibly destroyed.
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Hydraulic fracturing stands out as shale gas and oil gas oil projects in Diyarbakır, Siirt, Edirne, Kırklareli and Tekirdağ. It is being expanded most extensively in Diyarbakır. The prominent fields are as follows. Diyarbakır Mermer-1 field is defined as a pioneering field where drilling started 3,500 metres below ground. Projects that have been investigated since 2023 with EIA not required or EIA process launched: