ISTANBUL, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of environmentalists on Friday joined the youth-led global climate strike across Turkey that calls for urgent actions against climate change.
Braving heavy rain, some rallied on a ferry dock in the Kadikoy district on the Asian side of Istanbul, carrying banners which read "Our house is on fire," "Either zero-carbon or zero future" and "What do we want? Climate justice."
The environmentalists released a press release, calling on the Turkish government to abandon dirty energy sources.
"Our planet is on fire. Many cities are inundated, people are leaving their homes, and soon we will be extinct," Atlas Sarrafoglu, a high school student, read the press release to the crowd, asking the authorities to listen to young people and take immediate actions for the future.
"Yesterday you were just the listeners, but today you are part of the strike," he told the adults. "Now you have to act accordingly and take responsibility."
The crowd then marched to a nearby park to meet with other environmental groups and attended an event there.
Events were held in 15 provinces across the country in the day, including Ankara, Izmir and Antalya, as students across the globe missed school to strike for the climate along with Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teenager, who first launched the movement in September last year in front of the Swedish parliament.
Adults are expected to show their support to young strikers during the week-long rallies in around 150 countries until Sept. 27.
