Natural environment

At present no exploration works are being carried out at the Vranino field in northeastern Bulgaria, as the verdict of the Supreme Administrative Court (VAS) is awaited.
This was announced by the Minister of Environment and Water Ivelina Vasileva in a response to a question posed to her in Parliament on Friday, electronic daily Dnevnik reports.

The signatures of two nuclear engineers who prepared the environmental impact assessment report (ÇED) for Turkey?s prospective nuclear plant in Akkuyu were forged, ahead of the final approval of the mandatory document to allow the facility?s construction, daily BirGün reported Jan. 12.

The plant is scheduled to be built in the southeastern Mediterranean district of Akkuyu.

A waste site that is both creating pollution and causing disturbance in Ankara?s Beypazar? district will be turned into a recreation area. 

The site, located one kilometer from Beypazar??s city center, which is a source of pollution and emits a foul odor, will be transformed into a recreation area including an artificial pond, picnic areas, sporting areas and decorative pools.

Turkey?s rebellious Chamber of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) is set to open a lawsuit against the Environment Ministry after it hurriedly approved a highly controversial environmental report on Turkey?s first nuclear plant, ending months of legal wrangling a day ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin?s visit to Ankara last month.

BELGRADE - In 2015, Serbia will begin to solve the problems of hazardous industrial waste, and funds have been provided for several crucial projects, Serbian Minister of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Snezana Bogosavljevic-Boskovic said Wednesday.

An online campaign has been launched for the police officer convicted of shooting dead a protester during the Gezi demonstrations in Ankara last year to show support for the man's family, but also the officer himself.

The forensic report on the 15-year-old teenager Berkin Elvan who died following a long period in a coma he sustained after being hit by a police tear gas canister during the Gezi protests was released on Dec. 23, nine months after his passing away.

The trial into a policeman who hailed Gezi victim Berkin Elvan’s death on Facebook started Dec. 23, with the lawyer representing the victim’s family labeling the officer as a “pathological case who takes pleasure in the death of a 14-year-old.”

Draft legislation aimed at minimizing European Union fines for noncompliance with waste management directives, which was submitted in Parliament Monday, foresees the closure of all illegal landfills in Greece in the next six months with or without the consensus of regional and local authorities.

Greeks are embracing waste recycling, with the overwhelming majority saying it is part of their daily lives, according to a survey carried out by Alco for the Hellenic Recovery Recycling Corporation (HERRCO).