# A small Turkish community radio offers a rare window into environmentalism under Erdogan

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/a-small-turkish-community-radio-offers-a-rare-window-into-environmentalism-under-erdogan/
- Published: 2026-11-12T22:45:04+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-13T09:43:23+00:00
- Original publisher: Le Monde (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2026/11/12/a-small-turkish-community-radio-offers-a-rare-window-into-environmentalism-under-erdogan-s-regime_6779170_114.html
- Topics: Climate, Science, World

## Key points

- Istanbul’s Apaçik Radyo has championed climate awareness for 30 years.
- The station lost its FM frequency in 2024 and now broadcasts online.
- Turkey’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 4.2% in 2025.

## Summary

Apaçik Radyo, an Istanbul community station founded in 1995, has spent three decades bringing climate issues and environmental activism to Turkish audiences. After losing its FM frequency in 2024 over coverage of the 1915 Armenian massacres, it now broadcasts online, continuing to provide a platform for environmental voices as COP31 takes place in Antalya.

Co-founder Ömer Madra and climate activist Ümit Sahin use the station not only for programmes but also to support civic organising; in 2007, Sahin says, activists gathered 170,000 signatures backing ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Turkey’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 4.2% in 2025, while the government supports expanding dams, mines and lignite use. The station has also helped bring younger voices into climate activism, including Atlas Sarrafoglu, who began presenting a programme at 11 and still hosts a weekly show remotely.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.