The Sea of Marmara Will Be Inspected With a Seaplane

The seaplane which has been used by Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality for the inspection of Gulf of Izmit will start to inspect the whole surrounding area of the Sea of Marmara. After meeting with the Minister of Environment and Urban Planning on World Environment Day on 5 June 2020, Mr. Tahir Büyükakın, the President of Marmara Municipalities Union and the Mayor of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality stated that inspections over the Sea of Marmara with Kocaeli’s seaplane will be launched to take the sea under protection.

“Environment is the issue on which Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality has been rigorously working for years. With our seaplane which is the first of its kind in Turkey, we have carried out inspections over the Gulf for its preservation. It has identified serious violations across the region and those responsible for the violations have been fined accordingly.” said Mr. Büyükakın.

“We will extend our inspection over the whole coast of the Sea of Marmara”
Mr. Büyükakın stated that “We held a meeting with Mr. Murat Kurum, the Minister of Environment and Urban Planning and we conveyed our intention to extend our inspections to the whole Marmara Sea coast. Mr. Kurum approached our intention positively. We hope to complete our inspections over Kocaeli as well as all cities on the coast of the Sea of Marmara in days to come. With the collaboration of the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning, we will be able to extend our inspection over the whole coast of the Sea of Marmara.”

“Marmara Municipalities Union’s principal mission is to maintain environmental protection”
Reminding that Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU) was founded with the aim of protection of the Sea of Marmara, Mr. Büyükakın said “MMU’s principal mission is to maintain environmental protection of the Marmara Sea and to ensure that municipalities make appropriate policies for its preservation. For this reason, we, as Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, have taken the leading step. The extension of inspections to the whole region will be a novel approach.”

“Inspections will increase the diversity of marine species”
Mr. Büyükakın stated that they have continued their inspections on water quality and sea pollution. “Completing all refinement work and ensuring at that unrefined discharge does not flow to the Sea of Marmara from Kocaeli’s coast will increase the diversity of marine species. We are inspecting water quality of the Sea and of discharge environments as well as the points where the grindles meet the sea together with the Marmara Research Center of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK MAM). We are also carrying out work to increase the amount of fish in the Sea. With our 23 treatment facilities, we have not left a single place in the Gulf where the water is not refined.” added Mr. Büyükakın.