Author: Murathan Yildirim

In one month, authorities issued a total of TL 9 million ($252,585) in fines to four municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) for polluting the Marmara Sea in the northwest. The municipalities are mandated to establish advanced biological wastewater treatment plants under the government’s Marmara Sea Action Plan, but so far, none established them and their existing plants have failed to address the issue. The Marmara Sea, which is littoral to Istanbul, Türkiye’s most populated city, is again under the threat of mucilage or sea snot, blamed on the increase in organic pollutants and rise in…