* Project by Canada-based Alamos targeted in Turkey
* Concerns over deforestation; water, soil pollution
* 2013 Gezi Park protests loom over peaceful gathering
By Birsen Altayli
KIRAZLI, Turkey, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Thousands of Turksincluding opposition lawmakers staged a peaceful and unusuallylarge protest on the outskirts of a small western town on Mondayagainst what they say will be pollution from a foreign-ownedgold mine project.
Public opposition to the site owned by Dogu Biga Mining, theTurkish subsidiary of Canada-based Alamos Gold Inc,mounted after the firm allegedly cut down four times the numberof trees than it declared in an environmental impact report.
Near the town of Kirazli in Turkey's Canakkale province, afew dozen environmentalists have slept in tents since July 26 aspart of what they call a "Watch for Water and Conscience".
Activists say cyanide will be used to extract gold in theAlamos project and will contaminate the soil and waters of anearby dam. The Turkish government rejects charges that the minewill damage the environment and denies cyanide will be used.
Turkish environmentalists were part of protests in 2013 overa project to demolish Istanbul's Gezi Park, which grew intonationwide anti-government unrest that prompted a violentsecurity crackdown and hundreds of arrests.
On Monday, some 5,000 protesters from across the countrygathered on a hill near the planned mine site carrying signsreading: "Don't come if you like gold," and "We can do withoutgold, we can't do without the Kaz Mountains."
From there they walked to the project site where securityforces were limited to a few dozen gendarmerie, and they wereallowed entry to a field on the property.
The mine will harm the ecological balance of a wooded regionnear Mount Ida - or Kaz, as it locally known - which produceshuge amounts of oxygen and is home to diverse flora, said RebiyeUnuvar, deputy mayor of Canakkale.
"In six years, they will leave after this area becomes aridand is turned into a desert," she said. "We will fight until theend to stop the eco-slaughter here."
TEMA, an charitable group focusing on forestry, said 195,000trees were cut down for the project, well above the 46,000target previously announced by Dogu Biga.
A statement by Dogu Biga said 13,400 trees had been cut downfor the mine and that trees would re-planted in the area oncework is completed. The company did not immediately respond to arequest for further comment.
ARID HILLTOP, BLUE SEA
Supporters of President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party say largeinfrastructure projects, including Istanbul's new airport and athird bridge across the Bosphorus strait, support the economy,which has been driven for years by a construction boom.
Government officials say mine projects are necessary forTurkey to lessen its dependence on imports by using its ownnatural resources, also helping lower its current accountdeficit.
Burak Ciftci, 34, was one of the first people to camp on thefringes of the town of Kirazli. "We definitely do not have anaim such as attacking the mine, (what we are doing now) iscivilian resistance," he said.
"We thought the Canadian company might have a sense ofhumour so we played the guitar yesterday and took balloons tothem with our kids."
Asim Yildiz, 58, said he visits the area every summer andthat he joined the protests on Monday to raise awareness aboutthe environmental impact of the gold mining project. "This isour nature, our right. What can we give to future generations?Will we give them the arid hilltop or the blue sea?"
Turkey approved 36,122 mining, energy and other projectsbetween 2012 and 2017 located on a total of 246,257 hectares ofwoodland, according to the Foresters Foundation of Turkey.Government data shows that forests made up 29% of Turkey as of2018 and had increased in size in recent years.(Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun, Bulent Usta and YusufGezerWriting by Ali KucukgocmenEditing by Jonathan Spicer and Mark Heinrich)