Turkish people on Saturday turned off their lights on the occasion of the global Earth Hour event to bring broader public attention to the climate change issue.
From 8:30 pm local time (1730 GMT), the Turks joined millions across the globe to turn off nonessential electric lights for an hour, as part of the annual public campaign organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) since 2007.
Neyran Akyildiz, communication manager of the WWF Turkey, told the Xinhua News Agency on Friday that the lights-off event is gaining popularity in the country throughout the years as people have become increasingly environmentally conscious.
“In Turkey, we are participating in Earth Hour almost since the beginning [of the concept], and now it became a date awaited by many of our followers, environmentally conscious, climate-conscious, and planet-conscious people,” she pointed out.
Meanwhile, the lighting for landmarks across Turkey was dimmed in solidarity with the global efforts to raise social awareness of the climate crisis.
In Istanbul, Turkey’s financial and cultural hub, the two bridges spanning the Bosphorus Strait connecting Asia and Europe remained in dark for an hour. Several iconic monuments of the city, such as the medieval Galata Tower and the Ottoman-era Ortakoy Mosque, also turned their lights off.
“All of us – governments, businesses, and individuals – must become conscious that we are in an alarming climate situation, and we have to change the way we do things,” Akyildiz said.
For the WWF Turkey’s official, the world should review its energy use and find solutions to carbon emissions by reducing the dependency on fossil fuels.
Photo taken on March 22, 2022 shows a sunset view in Istanbul, Turkey. (Xinhua/Shadati)
