Commission of experts, including TEPAV’s Project Manager Yakup Peker, presented their findings
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey’s (TMBB) Commission for the Study of the Mucilage Problem met on Wednesday, October 13, 2021. Commission members Cengiz Günay, Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) Board Member; Ahmet Saygın Baban, TOBB Head of Sectors and Entrepreneurship Department; Yakup Peker, TEPAV Project Manager; Dr. Taşkin Kavzoglu, Gebze Technical University Faculty of Engineering Dean; Dr. Bayram Öztürk, Istanbul University Marine Biology Department Head / President of the Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TÜDAV); and Dr. Yeşim Büyükateş, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Department of Marine Biology Faculty Professor; all made presentations regarding the mucilage issue.
During the inquiry, TOBB Board Member Cengiz Günay, TOBB Department Head Ahmet Saygın Baban and TEPAV Project Manager Yakup Peker gave a presentation on the given problem while sharing the opinions and suggestions of TOBB and TEPAV. Yakup Peker, referring to TEPAV's Spatial Strategy Planning (MSP) studies, proposed that the blue growth agenda should be factored in with spatial distribution of industry in mind, that central Anatolia should be constructed as a second Marmara Region. Therefore, the Marmara Region should be considered as a region where high-tech investments are concentrated and green transformation of OIZs begin. Additionally, he expressed proposals that coastal planning studies carried out for the current situation should also incorporate research of the bottom of the sea and that green growth should be supported by blue growth. Peker also provided information on TEPAV's first EU Horizon 2020 (HORIZON 2020) project in the field of blue growth, the BRIDGE-BS project, which aims to investigate the impact of multiple stress factors in the Black Sea Region’s ecosystem services and to establish complimentary scenarios/strategies.
Moreover, Ahmet Saygın Baban stated that the most significant cause of mucilage is climate change and the climate crisis, including that the Paris Climate Agreement has taken an important step in this regard. Baban further iterated that mucilage forming a layer on the surface of the sea along with a decrease in oxygen within the sea will have long-term socioeconomic effects such as decreased biodiversity, mass deaths of sea life, and a negative impact on fishing and tourism.
The commission of experts on the mucilage problem following an inquiry request, pushed for immediately designating a budget or obtaining foreign funding for the creation of treatment plants in the Marmara region and declaring the Marmara as a special protected area.
