Turkey: Environment is obstacle for developing nations

By Etem Geylan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said Saturday that developed countries were using the environmental issues as a tool to prevent the progress of developing countries.

"There is a trap with the environmental issue. If you start developing a comparative advantage over other countries when you make a strategic investment or narrow in on their territory, they immediately activate environmentalists," Yildirim said at the event "The Meeting of the City's Architects" in Istanbul.

Yildirim went on to say that while the destruction of history, culture, and nature should not be tolerated, one should also be allowed to build a nuclear power plant.

"Because we need variety in energy for the security of supply. We should build three [nuclear power plant] not two or one," he added.

On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had criticized environmentalists saying Western countries were trying to prevent the development of Turkey.

He said the use of coal and nuclear power plants were often criticized by environmentalists.

“The majority of coal and nuclear power plants, which environmentalists criticize most, are in western countries." he said.

On Monday, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak announced that the private sector had invested $5 billion in 2016 to build a total of 158 electricity generating plants in Turkey.