Turkey Book Talk

Turkey Book Talk episode #102  –  Zeynep Şentek on the environment, public health and politics in Dilovası, a heavily polluted industrial district outside Istanbul.

Şentek is managing editor at BlackSea.EU, an investigative journalism platform that is part of the European Investigative Collaborations network. She is also one of the reporters of a recent investigation examining the grim health consequences of life in what a 2007 parliamentary commission called a “public health disaster zone”.

The article paints an almost hellish picture of life for the nearly 50,000 people in Dilovası, where dangerous chemicals are continuously belched into the air, cancer rates are reportedly well above average, and locals suffer from a range of severe respiratory conditions.

Here’s the report, “Toxic Valley”

Here’s a shorter report on an asbestos dump discovered in Dilovası

Download the episode or listen below.

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Petruț Călinescu, theblacksea.eu

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