The leader of the Democrat Party, deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Youth and Environment Fikri Ataoğlu took part in a program on BRT this morning and announced that the parliamentary committees would be working throughout the summer months.

In his evaluation to the BRT, Minister Ataoğlu referred to the forest fires in the Mersinlik region and noted that lessons should be learned from the fire disaster and steps should be taken in order to protect the forests.

He said that his ministry will be working to decide on what steps can be taken to protect the forests in the future as well.

Referring to the work carried out by the coalition government he said that they had not seen the performance they wanted due to the frequent changes in the governments and committees in parliament.

Also touching upon the issue of plastic bags used at markets, Minister Ataoğlu said that plastic bags were causing a major environmental disaster and although they had begun charging for plastic bags it was not a strong enough deterrent for the public.

He said that they aimed to totally ban the use of plastic bags within the country.