Turkish court cancels Istanbul park project

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Turkish court has cancelled an Istanbul building project backed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan which provided the trigger for nationwide anti-government demonstrations last month, a copy of the court decision showed, according to Reuters.

Authorities may well appeal against cancellation of plans for a replica Ottoman-era barracks on Istanbul’s Taksim Square. But the ruling marked a victory for a coalition of political forces and a blow for Erdoğan, who stood fast against protests and riots he said were stoked by terrorists and looters.

Can Atalay, a lawyer for the Chamber of Architects which brought the lawsuit, said the administrative court ruled in early June at the height of the unrest that the plan violated preservation rules and unacceptably changed the square's identity. It was not clear why it had only now been released.

Erdoğan has said he would wait for the judiciary to rule, and any appeals process, before proceeding with Taksim, one of several large projects for Istanbul, including a huge airport, an enormous Mosque and a canal to ease Bosphorus traffic.

June's protests and riots began when police used water cannon and tear gas against a relatively small protest over the plans to redevelop Taksim and the adjacent Gezi Park. The heavy handed police action stirred unprecedented actions against Erdoğan, accusing him of an increasingly authoritarian style.

Four people were killed and some 7,500 wounded in the police crackdown, according to the Turkish Medical Association. It largely ended when police cleared a protest camp on the square on June 15.

There are other lawsuits against aspects of Taksim's redevelopment. Atalay said this ruling takes precedence since it involves the master plan for the square.

The changes to Taksim include an underground tunnel network for traffic to pedestrianise the square and razing Gezi Park to build the replica Ottoman-era barracks that Erdoğan originally said would be a mall, then a city museum.