Hürriyet Daily News , August 12, 2010, Istanbul - The Green Party has jumped into the fray over the upcoming referendum, calling for a focus on protecting nature instead of the constitutional reforms, an idea it poses as a “fourth” way in the debate. Instead of saying “yes” or “no” to the referendum, or boycotting it altogether, as other opposition parties have suggested, the Greens say they have chosen to stay out of such political games altogether.

How this differs in practice from a boycott was unclear.

“We call on all the [political] parties and the people who are polarized with the referendum debates: First stop the destruction of nature, for our future!” the Green Party said in an Aug. 4 statement on its official website, calling on Turkish people to prioritize the movement to protect the environment.

PRESS RELEASE - Strasbourg, 7 July 2010
The Greens in the European parliament today condemned the arrest of anti-nuclear activists from all over Turkey yesterday in Ankara . The demonstrators wanted to call on the Members of the Turkish National Assembly to say no to a nuclear deal with Russia (1). Commenting on the events, Hélène Flautre, Co-president of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, EU-Turkey and Franziska Keller, Green MEP, said: "We condemn the arrest of the activists, including Umit Sahin, the co-spokesperson of the Turkish Green Party at a peaceful demonstration. Though they were released after being taken into custody by the police for almost 12 hours, this remains a flagrant violation against the right of freedom of assembly.