Our Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları spoke at a press conference held ahead of the People’s Climate Summit in Antalya. Hatimoğulları said the following:
Greetings to all those waging an alternative struggle against COP31
Today, we are in Antalya with our valued comrades and companions in struggle who have come from all corners of Türkiye and are fighting for nature, life, the air, water, and the lives of all living beings. This is a gathering with participation from around the world. States and their representatives are attending COP31; companies are participating. civil society organisations aligned with these companies are participating, and they claim to be seeking ways to save the world. Yet, I would particularly like to underline that they have actually turned COP31 into a pretext to perpetuate a system that is driving the world into darkness and threatening the lives of all living beings. The capitalist order, savage capitalism, is consumed by the pursuit of unlimited growth and maximising its profits at an ever-increasing pace; far from abandoning the plunder of nature, it is deepening it.
I respectfully and warmly salute all of you: the women, peasants, young people, and activists in the ecology movement who are resisting this plunder with great effort in Türkiye and around the world. I once again send my greetings to all my comrades in struggle who declare, "Nature, water, and air are not for sale," and "Labour, nature, and life will be liberated." Greetings to everyone fighting for the right to life of nature in all its forms—with its plants, animals, and human beings. A thousand greetings to all defenders of life waging an alternative struggle against COP31.
We lost 19 workers because of the profit-driven greed of the capitalists putting themselves on display at COP31
A few days ago, 19 workers lost their lives in a workplace killing at the HABAŞ iron and steel factory in Aliağa, İzmir. I will begin my remarks by respectfully commemorating them. The morning immediately after this workplace killing, we were there with our MPs and Central Executive Board members. We visited the hospitals and the Forensic Medicine Institute. Following that, we made our statement there and visited the homes where families were receiving condolences to pay our condolences.
Nineteen people were torn away from life. Why? Because of the profit-driven greed of the capitalists and companies making a show of themselves at this COP31. This was a workplace murder caused by the negligence of bosses who disregard occupational health and safety, avoid expenses, and treat workers as mere objects—as nothing more than pieces of metal. And the workers who wanted to protest this workplace murder were beaten by the gendarmerie at the employers’ instigation. We will never accept this.
I once again extend our deepest condolences to the families of all our fellow workers who lost their lives in the workplace murder in Aliağa, and to all the people of Türkiye. I wish a speedy recovery to the injured, and let it be known that we stand with the workers and workers to the very end. We support their struggle wholeheartedly. Their struggle is our struggle. We give our word to the workers: we promise here once again that we will establish a just and equal order that treats workers with human dignity, an order where not a single person is torn from life due to a series of preventable failures.
COP31 is the name of capital against life, government against society, and plunder against nature
The government is advertising the spectacle of plunder that is COP31 in Antalya; in contrast to the climate summit organised by the capitalist system under the lie of "protecting nature," the People’s Climate Summit has been in intense preparation for months and has organised a powerful alternative struggle in Antalya. Through our rally shortly, we will make our voices heard across Türkiye and the world.
As the DEM Party, we are a direct part of the ecology struggle. If we are witnessing drought, floods, and the destruction of natural assets anywhere in the world today, rest assured that the architects of this disaster are states and capital. In other words, it is savage capitalism in all its dimensions. COP31, organised hand in hand by the state and capital, is the name of capital against life, government against society, and plunder against nature. It is exploitation in its very essence. The climate crisis is a question of class, exploitation and justice. The cause of the climate crisis is relentless greed for profit. In order for a wealthy minority to become as rich as Croesus, they continue to build an order that will put the lives of 8 billion people and billions of living creatures globally, practically striving to turn the world into an uninhabitable hell. One of one of the centres of these efforts today is Antalya.
In these days when guns have fallen silent, we see capitalism and capital entering the Kurdish provinces at full speed
For this reason, we are here together in Antalya to defend the world, life, breath, and nature. The government has practically turned COP31 in Antalya into an advertising billboard. With its magnificent nature, history, and heritage, Antalya is truly an exceptionally beautiful city, with its magnificent natural environment, history and heritage, and a city that embodies the possibility of shared life. And people from all over the world are together in this city today. This government has turned Türkiye into Europe’s waste centre and a source of cheap labour for capital. This approach is dragging Türkiye toward sheer disaster. Look, whichever direction you turn your head in Türkiye, you will encounter a site of ecocide. Believe me, you cannot find a single untouched spot on the published mining maps.
Today, in these days when we are discussing the process of peace and a democratic society in Türkiye, when the guns have fallen silent, we see capitalism and capital entering the Kurdish provinces at full speed. We see how nature is being plundered in the Kurdish provinces. We would like to underline once again that they are now targeting the Kurdish provinces in order to do even more than they have done in the Aegean, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean.
The villages where each of us was born, the highland pastures we go to in the summer, and the lands we work on to make a living are all living spaces for peasants and producers. That soil, those trees, and those natural assets are not objects or commodities for the people living there. For the capitalist system, however, they are merely viewed as objects. Everything is turned into a commodity adorned with green dollar bills. But for the people living there, it is not a commodity. It is a direct part of life. It is an environment where they experience their emotions, feelings, dreams, and love, and this system seeks to tear people away from these places. Just in the past few weeks, there is an ecology and life struggle happening everywhere: in Kervanpınar, Amed (Diyarbakır), concurrently in Ordu's Perşembe Plateau, in the villages of Muş’s Varto district, throughout Gümüşhane, in Uşak, and in Artvin. The rising objections to protect living spaces and natural assets in Ağrı Diyadin are a very powerful part of this struggle.
If the government loved this country, its people, and its land, it would not have passed Law No. 7554, the law of plunder. We opposed this plunder law. We mounted a strong opposition. We made calls to "change the system, not the climate." Yet, despite this, they still enacted this plunder law. Against this recklessness, we say the following: "We do not recognize the Law No. 7554, the Climate Law. For us, it is null and void. Through the partnership of state and capital, they have made this world uninhabitable."
The bells are tolling for nature, for life, and for us
According to the COP31 climate status update report prepared by the World Meteorological Organization, the report highlights that global temperatures, ocean heat accumulation, and sea-level rise have reached record levels. Look, between January and September—meaning January to September 2026—the global average surface temperature was approximately 1.47°C above the pre-industrial level. In this short period, this figure has come close to the 1.5°C threshold agreed under the Paris Agreement. And this shows us one thing: 2027 will be a very hot year. This means the climate events whose devastating effects we are experiencing today will become even more frequent. And from here, we ask: For whom does the bells toll? The bells are tolling for nature, for life, for us.
According to the Climate Change Performance Index, Türkiye ranked 53rd out of 64 countries, receiving a low score due to its climate policies and the upward trend in greenhouse gas emissions. Yes, you heard that correctly. Türkiye is 53rd among 64 countries. This shows just how grave the situation is. While these reports are blatantly obvious, in the early days of the summit, it was heralded as good news that two oil fields were discovered in Gabar. While the whole world is waiting for concrete steps to phase out fossil fuels, Türkiye still does not step back from continuing to present the oil it discovers to the public as good news.
Not COP31, but ÇÖP31 (RUBBISH31)
Government representatives in Antalya are delivering fine words in front of the international public with the promise of building a bridge between the Global North and the Global South, implementing an "Implementation COP," and maintaining the 1.5°C target. But none of these beautiful words are true. In practice, none of these fine words are reflected in practice.
For those defending nature and human life, these are by no means welcomed practices or words. Look, Türkiye is experiencing the most severe ecological destruction, waste colonialism, the plunder of capital, and ecocide in its history. Imagine that those who put the “Zero Waste” discourse on the international stage have turned Türkiye into an open-air rubbish dump.
They are trying to shift the burden of the waste issue onto citizens, claiming it is a matter of habit and culture. Yet, this is a systemic problem. Even participants are calling it ÇÖP31 (RUBBISH31) rather than COP31. So, what is the cause of the microplastics washing up on the shores from Adana and Mersin to Antalya and Muğla this summer? What is the source of this pollution? Look, according to 2025 data, a total of 650,000 tonnes of plastic waste was imported: 510,000 tonnes from the European Union and 140,000 tonnes from the United Kingdom. Sixty per cent of this imported waste is dumped in Adana, an agricultural basin. Look at Küçük Dikili, the Küçük Dikili neighborhood of Adana. This is a poor neighborhood, and much of the recycling takes place here. A significant part of the processing takes place here. Imagine a corporation, Limak Holding, organising a panel on "Reshaping the Climate Economy under Women's Leadership" and discussing with many women from around the world that women should be the decision-makers in climate discussions.
Those who arrest people defending their trees shamelessly plant symbolic olive trees at COP31
Do you remember what that same Limak Holding did to 88-year-old Zehra the grandmother? I believe people across Türkiye and around the world remember how Zehra Nene cried while hugging her own tree. The culprit for this is the very same Limak Holding that is now trying to deceive the public. We also remember what was done to Necla Işık and her daughter Esra Işık in Akbelen, don't we? How they were detained, how Esra was kept in prison and was eventually had to be released due to public backlash. We all remember. I think we all also remember how the same Limak company, and the state and law enforcement protecting it, subjected those same villagers to violence and beat them with batonnes. I believe we all remember how olive groves were uprooted from the roots so that coal could reach the thermal power plants in Yatağan and Milas. But shamelessly and without embarrassment, they plant symbolic olive trees at COP31. They pretend to be olive lovers; they pretend to be nature lovers. Yet, we all know very well how they ruthlessly uprooted the olive groves.
In a single word, COP31 is a summit of oppressors
Those who brought the law that paved the way for the massacre of stray animals before us, abandoning stray animals to death in 2024, are now offering a tour of the Blue Zone through the eyes of a cat in COP31's official advertisements. They claim to be sending the message that our animal friends are with us. This is also a complete lie. Aren't you the ones who passed a law to remove those friends of ours from the streets? Aren't you the ones who, disregarding animal rights, passed this law on animals despite the struggle waged by animal lovers and opposition parties? It is you. But now you stand up and try to make yourselves look good, shedding crocodile tears. All of this is truly the height of hypocrisy. Do you know who is at the table where those responsible for the climate crisis should be held accountable? The culprits are there. Cengiz Holding is there, Limak is there, Rönesans Holding is there, Sinpaş Corporation is there.
The very corporations that have come to the fore with ecological destruction, environmental lawsuits, and their impacts on nature are sitting at that table. But the villagers resisting to protect their soil, water, and living spaces in Varto, Muş, are not. The people from the highlands opposing mining projects on Perşembe Plateau and Çambaşı in Ordu are not. The villagers from İkizköy defending their olive groves, forests, and villages in Akbelen are not. The people of Artvin defending their living spaces in Cerattepe are not. Those opposing and resisting mining activities in the Kaz Mountains are not. Those trying to protect forests and water resources in Akseki are not. The earthquake survivors protecting their olive groves in Antakya are not. The people of Diyadin in Ağrı, and those resisting the expanding logging activities in Siirt are not. In a single word, this summit is a summit of oppressors. It has become the summit of those blinded by greed for profit, those who disregard peoples and nature, and they are trying to exploit this summit for their own interests. And it must be known that nature is not for sale. The world belongs to all of us, the future belongs to all of us, and we will take our struggle to a much higher level to save our future, to save the future of humanity and all living beings. Let this be our promise from here in Antalya to all of Türkiye and the entire world.
Those who commit urban crimes say, "We will build resilient cities."
Dear members of the press, dear citizens and dear peoples of the world. Imagine that those who commit crimes in a city, and even confess to it, are saying, "We will build resilient cities." Look, one of the official agendas of COP31 is the issue of resilient cities. They are pouring concrete over streams. They are paving the way for flood disasters.
No improvements are made to housing. Earthquake-resistant cities are not being built. Homes and other living spaces are not being reinforced, but they say, "We will build resilient cities." Yes. And it wasn't long ago, look, it wasn't long ago, just a month ago, I think we all saw how İstanbul, Kocaeli, and Antalya were swept away by floods after the rainfall. How many of our citizens lost their lives in those floods? Agricultural lands were left under floodwaters. Homes and workplaces were flooded. And remember the earthquake centred on Maraş and Antakya, where we suffered the greatest loss of life in several centuries. They said 53,000 people lost their lives. But that is not the actual figure. It is far, far above it. And despite experiencing such a massive earthquake and suffering our greatest loss in recent centuries, they still talk about supposedly resilient cities. They still take no precautions. There are still no efforts to improve safety or take precautions in areas along fault lines. And I would like to underline this as well. They claim, "We built earthquake housing, the earthquake survivors' grievances were resolved." Believe me, a vast number of people in Adıyaman and Hatay are still forced to continue their lives in containers.
Now is the time to hold those responsible for ecological destruction accountable
And esteemed friends, look, we are truly at the point where words end. It is time to hold those responsible for ecological destruction accountable, time to struggle against those who created the climate crisis, time to hear and amplify the demand for justice of those who defend life, time to put an end to policies that destroy livelihoods, time to amplify the voices and struggles of women who sustain and reproduce life. It is time to defend shared life against projects that disregard the will of the peoples. It is exactly the time to defend food, water, and energy not as market commodities, but as the shared values of life. It is time to advance peace, justice and a free life against wars and exploitation. And we will continue our efforts for this until the very end.
Esteemed friends, dear citizens of Türkiye, dear peoples of the world, look, today, one of the groups opposing, protesting, and waging an alternative struggle against COP31 outside the official COP31 process are the Palestinians and friends of the Palestinian people. They form one of the crucial groups protesting the COP31 summit. The oppressed Palestinian people have been killed, driven out, and forcibly displaced. The Israeli Government has torn the Palestinians from their lives, their land, their homes, their dreams, and their future.
O Palestinian people, we stand with you. You have been massacred and beaten; you have been subjected to torture and exile. You have become refugees in distant lands. The cause of the Palestinian people and the Kurdish people is the cause of the entire Middle East; it is our cause and the cause of the DEM Party. Let the guns fall silent. Let regimes hostile to peoples and nature come to an end. Salutations to freedom, to the equality of peoples, to economic equality, to law, and to rights. Greetings to all living beings in nature.
Using nuclear weapons today means harming the whole world
And dear peoples, look, Trump threatened Iran with a nuclear attack, didn't he? Public information announcements have been broadcast in Iran. The Iranian state is trying to raise awareness among its citizens regarding how to take precautions against nuclear weapons. And the reality is, it's not just Trump; unfortunately, the world is passing through a phase of increasing militarisation, especially nuclear militarisation, chemical weapons, and biological weapons. And using nuclear weapons today does not mean merely harming Iran. Using nuclear weapons today means harming the entire world. And countries have now reached such a level that they threaten each other with nuclear weapons.
Most recently, a NATO summit was held in Türkiye, and new war plans were drawn up in Türkiye. And another important decision taken at previous NATO meetings was to increase the share of gross domestic product allocated to weapons from 2% to 5%. In a world where militarisation is this intense, we need to amplify the voice of peace and organise much more, not just in our own country, but all over the world.
The struggle for the right to life, to prevent the destruction of this planet and the world, must now be taken to an internationalist level far beyond the struggles of individual countries. In other words, one of the most fundamental tasks before us is to build an internationalist peace movement together. And we believe this: We can indeed build a world without nuclear weapons. We can indeed build a world without war. We will continue to say peace, peace, peace, and we will wage this struggle everywhere.
We expect no solution from COP31, now is the precise time to expand the ecology struggle
Dear peoples, dear members of the press, we expect no solution from COP31. We seek the solution within ourselves. We see the solution in those who defend nature. And now is the right time to expand the ecology struggle. We will not leave the solution to the mercy of those who created the crisis.
The agents of change are everyone defending their living spaces, workers protecting their labour, women, young people, Indigenous peoples—in short, the ecology movement itself. The agenda in Antalya is not limited to those who make promises in grand halls but fail to act. Look, in Antalya's agenda, there are people from all over the world who have come from all over the world to advocate and organise an alternative struggle.
Following COP26 in 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland, and COP30 in 2025 in Belém, Brazil, today in Türkiye, activists from around the world have come together in the common struggle of the peoples.
The capitalist system's production and consumption model viewed nature, the air, and the soil as an unlimited reservoir of raw materials, while continuing to view the world as a waste site. And we, as the DEM Party, radically reject all of this.
We advocate an order of life based on ecological planning
And we say: "We advocate the perspective of an Ecological Democratic Society that considers ecology, the right to life, social justice, equality of peoples, and women's freedom as fundamental areas of struggle." Against the order of exploitation that makes workers, the poor, women, and local communities pay the price of the crisis, we combine climate justice with social justice, defending life and the commons. We view nature and living beings not as the objects of corporations, but as a shared value of society. For this reason, we propose a planned, publicly planned Ecological Democratic Economy, and we struggle to achieve this.
We advocate an order of life where production and ownership relations are democratized in favor of the people, where ecological planning is essential, and we work to build it. There is an energy regime that insists on fossil fuels, destroys nature, and opens pastures and forests to corporations while pushing the people into energy poverty. We prioritize a planned, time-bound phase-out from fossil fuels, a just transition program protecting workers' rights, and energy democracy. Energy must be a public right and managed by local cooperatives.
We defend water as an inalienable right to life
We want to move energy beyond being a means of profit for large corporations and develop small-scale models that produce according to local communities' needs without damaging their living spaces. Industrial agriculture based on chemical inputs, corporate seeds, and food monopolies is poisoning the soil. It is dispossessing the small producer. Additionally, it also poisons the living beings that consume these products. We defend ecological agriculture, local seed networks, women's cooperatives, and a food system where the people themselves, together with their localities, decide what to produce. Today, agricultural production is faced not only with these structural problems but also with severe losses caused by floods, frost, and other extreme weather events stemming from climatic and environmental factors.
Agricultural education and support policies should be approached in a way that enables producers to cope with these problems. Commercialised water policies are turning rivers into dams, shale gas exploration sites, and instruments of geopolitical pressure. We defend water as an inalienable right to life. We advocate for Basin Democracy in the Tigris-Euphrates basin, based on the shared life of peoples and regional peace. They have turned water into a weapon and life into a bargaining chip. Water is not a weapon. Defending nature is not about confining it to a nationalist property dispute. Do not make the Asi (Orontes) River a bargaining chip at the expense of the peoples of Syria.
Against the urban planning approach based on rent-seeking, concrete and speculation that centers on human beings while ignoring other living beings, we advocate for ecological planning that sees cities as a shared living space for all living beings, and an understanding of interspecies justice that recognises animals’ equal right to exist. Against the structure that usurps local will with trustee policies and confines decision-making processes to central government and corporate boardrooms, we advocate for strengthening the powers of local governments, taking decisions directly together with the people, and establishing local ecology councils along with the people’s right to give or withhold their free and informed consent, including the right to veto decisions regarding their own living spaces.
We want ecocide to be considered a crime in international law
And dear citizens with disabilities, there are 1.3 billion persons with disabilities in the world. There are over 10 million persons with disabilities in Türkiye. When we consider them together with their families, we can all see what a broad social issue disability is in Türkiye and the world. Together with persons with disabilities, we advocate that cities should be designed suitably for the people with disabilities, and we place this at the center of our work. Physical diversity and neurodiversity must be considered when developing these policies, but unfortunately, this system ignores persons with disabilities as well.
Militarism, war and military exclusion zones, and security-oriented policies have devastated and continue to devastate our geography, pastures, and forests. We particularly underline that ecocide must be considered a crime in international law, that destroyed ecosystems must be restored through ecological restoration budgets, and that social peace implies making peace with nature. We participated in a vigil in Besta, Şırnak. Trees are being cut down. The trunks of those trees are being sold. And the people are resisting this. A Kurdish mother in Besta said the following in her mother tongue: "We have been fighting for peace in Türkiye for 50 years. We are struggling for peace in Türkiye. We struggle for the peaceful and democratic resolution of the Kurdish issue. While we make peace, the guns will fall silent, yes, but we must also learn to make peace with our trees," she said. This is an extremely important point; we must also make peace with our trees.
We will change this order, we will certainly succeed
Another world is possible, and I believe the song composed by Cahit Abi from the band Moğollar is in all our memories. The lyrics are beautiful: "This world is ours, let us not pollute it. Let us not make life poisonous for one another."
This world order will certainly change. This world order spreads poison, and we will change this order. It cannot go on like this. We must protect the planet so we can protect the future. We must start from our country so that we can succeed in carrying this struggle to an an internationalist platform together. No matter the cost, we will defend the right to life of birds, insects, trees and leaves—that is, all living beings—to the very end. Rivers, streams and waters will flow freely, and we will defend their rights to the very end. We will struggle together for life, and we will certainly win. Those polluting the world are not as mighty as they are thought to be. Those who built this system of capitalist brutality, are not as powerful as we assume.
As long as we, all the peoples of the world, workers, labourers, women, young people, nature, and human rights defenders unite our struggles, lock arms, and succeed in marching with a shared perspective, we can change this order. We will change this order. We will certainly succeed; we will certainly succeed. I greet you all with respect and love. I wish success in our struggle.
To read the Arabic translation of Hatimoğulları's speech click here.
14 November 2026