Iğdır Air Pollution: "Ayhavar! Ayhavar!"

By: MÜCAHİT ÖZDEN HUN

Seeing our heavenly Iğdır, our green Iğdır, our "Paris of the East" Iğdır, ranked 49th among the world's most polluted cities, felt like a knife plunged into my heart. I am angry at every institution in Iğdır: whether they are State Institutions, Non-Governmental Organizations, Political Parties, or even, most importantly, retired or active members of parliament... Iğdır has been openly betrayed. Iğdır has been darkened by its own children, ignored, and abandoned to a city of smoke and fog. I am ashamed! I am ashamed!

THE WORD "AYHAVAR"

Cengiz Ekinci, a graduate of Ankara University Faculty of Law who would later serve as a Member of Parliament in the 1960s and 70s, chose Iğdır as his first posting immediately after completing his legal internship (1949), settling in this charming district of the East with his family (late 1949). Cengiz Ekinci left Iğdır in 1951, returning to his birthplace, Kars. On November 6, 1952, he began publishing a satirical newspaper named "Ayhavar!" several times a week in Kars. Thus, the word "Ayhavar," frequently used in daily conversations among the people, found literary value in written language.

"Ayhavar" means "Help!" in Azerbaijani. In fact, it bears a great resemblance to the Kurdish word "Hawar!", which has the same meaning.

IQAir COMPANY

As you know, every person has an intelligence level called IQ (Intelligence Quotient). Based on this, a Swiss technology company also measures the air pollution of every city in the world and carries out serious work by assigning an IQ value to each. It is currently the most reliable company providing air pollution reports in the world.

Based on 2021 data, in the "World's Most Polluted Cities Ranking" conducted by IQAir Company, our Iğdır was ranked 49th. Please, do not think, "At least we are not in first place." A detailed examination reveals that this is indeed the case.

TOP 50 CITIES

As is known, the world's most populous country is China (1,439,323,776) in first place, and India (1,380,004,385) in second. It is widely expected that India will surpass China within 5-10 years. When considering the Human Development Index, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are at the bottom.

The countries with the world's most polluted cities are as follows:

1. India
2. India
3. China
4. India
5. India
6. Pakistan
7. India
8. Pakistan
9. Pakistan
10. India
11. India
12. India
13. India
14. India
15. Pakistan
16. India
17. India
18. India
19. China
20. India
21. India
22. India
23. Pakistan
24. India
25. India
26. India
27. India
28. Bangladesh
29. Chad
30. India
31. India
32. Kazakhstan
33. India
34. Bangladesh
35. India
36. India
37. India
38. India
39. India
40. Kazakhstan
41. India
42. India
43. India
44. Kazakhstan
45. India
46. Kazakhstan
47. India
48. India
49. IĞDIR
50. India

TRUE RANKING

Let's make an assessment, considering that India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were once a single country. In statistics, there is a value known as OUTLIERS, which is disregarded to avoid distorting statistical evaluation. India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are in an OUTLIERS situation in this ranking. Let's re-rank by disregarding these three countries:

1. China
2. China
3. Chad
4. Kazakhstan
5. Kazakhstan
6. Kazakhstan
7. Kazakhstan
8. IĞDIR

Can we easily eliminate China and Kazakhstan from this list? Why?

1. China is the most populous country in the world. It is an OUTLIERS situation.
2. Kazakhstan has an area of 2,724,900 km2 and a population of 19 million. Since it is the country with the fewest people per km2, this is also an OUTLIERS situation.

When China and Kazakhstan are removed from the list, the two most polluted cities in the world are:

1. N'Djamena in Chad
2. Iğdır in Turkey

We can continue the elimination. N'Djamena is the capital and most populous city of Chad (1 million). It would be unfair to compare it with Iğdır, which has a population of 200,000 and is not a capital of anything. In this situation, the following reality becomes clear: IĞDIR IS THE MOST POLLUTED CITY IN THE WORLD.

ANALYSIS

Let's evaluate the situation a bit. If Iğdır were a major industrial center, we would blame "factories, industry" and be done with it. Even Iğdır's largest enterprise barely employs 30-40 people. It has no factories or industry.

If you are thinking, "Iğdır cannot breathe because it is surrounded by mountains," you are mistaken again. The cities of Iğdır and Yerevan are built on the Sürmeli plain, through which the Aras River flows. Both cities are surrounded by the Alagöz Mountains and the Mount Ararat range. Moreover, Yerevan has a population of over 1 million and is also the country's industrial center. Yerevan ranks much lower in air pollution, what could be the reason for this?

Yerevan also uses natural gas, wood, and coal. The three important measures taken are:

1. Encouraging the city's development towards the mountains
2. Transition to green energy (such as solar energy)
3. Insulation techniques

URBANIZATION OF IĞDIR

In 1963, a report was prepared. In those years, when Iğdır's population was 5,000, air pollution was foreseen in the district, and it was suggested that the city develop towards the current university. However, this suggestion was not implemented by the Azerbaijani lobby, led by the then Provincial Chairman of the Justice Party, due to the fear that "Kurdish lands would gain value." Yet, if Iğdır city center had developed in this direction, it would not be struggling with air pollution today.

One of our retired members of parliament made the following statement: "If I am re-elected as a member of parliament, I will bring the Iğdır University campus in Suveren down."

This is a member of parliament of Azerbaijani origin, even close to the Turanist view. Our esteemed gentleman, with his Turanist mentality, thinks: Suveren village is a Kurdish village. The university's surroundings are also encircled by Kurdish villages. Beyond the mountain is Doğubayazıt. What if an independent Kurdistan is established, the Iğdır University Campus will remain within the borders of the Kurdistan state (!). It is best to establish the university near Nakhchivan now so that it is close to the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Guilty, stand up! My Iğdır voters, I call out to you: History has found you guilty. You are giving a premium to the Azerbaijani-Kurdish conflict, you have destroyed your city by succumbing your votes to a few "ethnic nationalist" slogans, the pomp of the Caucasian dance, or halays (govend) accompanied by drums and zurnas. With the understanding of "let our people win," you played with Iğdır's honor and pride. Elections are approaching. With all your might, but please, with all your might, fuel Azerbaijani and Kurdish discrimination, at least let's erase Iğdır from the map, and we can all relax.

FINAL WORD

To save our Iğdır from air pollution, satellite cities must be built very quickly towards the mountains. The Ünlendi Dam is now about to become operational. It has the power to pump water to the Iğdır plain and mountains. Even if this were not the case, drilling techniques now make everything possible. Our university campus is on top of the mountain, but it meets its water needs with water obtained from four boreholes.

I propose the following: Iğdır's new satellite cities should be established near the villages of Aliköçek, Mezraa, and Taşlıca. I understand that the Turanist Member of Parliament, Azerbaijani chauvinists, will jump up and down. According to them, such a proposal is a policy of surrendering Iğdır to the Kurds and enriching them. I have only one thing to say to these pathetic politicians:

Before Kaça-Kaç (1919), the villages of Aliköçek, Taşlıca, and Sıçanlı (Pınarbaşı) were Azerbaijani villages.

NOTE: Some of my readers said they did not understand the term OUTLIERS. In statistics, "outliers" are an important detail in themselves. They need to be noticed and excluded.

I want to give an example: Suppose you are an instructor giving theoretical driving license courses. A new term is about to begin. 5 people have registered. The ages of those registered are as follows: 18, 20, 19, 21, 70

The lesson is about to begin. As an instructor, you go to the secretary named Fatma in the office. The following conversation takes place between you:

You: Ms. Fatma, how many students have registered?

Fatma: 5 students

You: What is the average age?

Fatma immediately calculates. Average = (18+20+19+21+70)/5 = 29.6

Fatma: Instructor, the average age is around 30.

You, as an instructor, imagine 5 students around 29-30 years old in your mind, and when you enter the classroom, you see that the majority are students about 10 years younger. The average value calculation has provided misleading information. To prevent this, the 70-year-old student, who is "outlying" in the age distribution in the class, is an OUTLIER and should be excluded from the average. In this case, the average would be 19.5, which better reflects the reality. Sincerely