Posted for Quirin Schiermeier

The deportation from Turkey of two environmental campaigners who had planned to participate in the World Water Forum this week in Istanbul has prompted sharp protest.

Turkish police yesterday afternoon arrested Payal Parekh and Ann-Kathrin Schneider with the California-based campaign group International Rivers after the two had unfurled a banner reading ‘No Risky Dams’ at the opening ceremony of the World Water Forum. Parekh and Schneider were detained all night, while lawyers negotiated with the Turkish authorities over their release. Early this morning police escorted them to the airport. Parekh and Schneider are now on their way back to Germany and the United States. They were banned from re-entering Turkey for two years.

“We strongly condemn the aggressive response by the Turkish police to yesterday’s peaceful protest,” Peter Bosshard, policy director with International Rivers wrote in a statement from Istanbul. “We ask the World Water Council to stand up for freedom of speech, and to make it clear to the Turkish government that the detention and deportation of peaceful protesters is unacceptable.”

It was not the only incident. Turkish police forces had yesterday also used water cannons against a crowd protesting outside the conference area against global water politics. The World Water Forum, a trade show and policy conference organized every three years by the World Water Council, this year boasts some 15,000 participants.