ISTANBUL: A Turkish court has cancelled an Istanbul building project backed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan which provided the trigger for nationwide anti-government demonstrations last month, a copy of the court decision showed.
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 Erdogan, 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.
“This decision applies to all of the work at Taksim Square ... The public-works project that was the basis for the work has been canceled,” Atalay said.
Erdogan 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 Erdogan, 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.
The protests were unprecedented in Erdogan’s rule, which began in 2002 with the election of his AK Party. He has pressed significant reforms in the economy and curtailed the power of a military that had toppled four governments in four decades.
Opponents argue that he has become authoritarian in his rule after three election victories and during the June unrest turned increasingly to the Islamist core of his AK Party faithful.
If the country’s top administrative court subsequently rules in favour of the development, Erdogan has still pledged to hold a referendum in Istanbul on the government’s plan. A press adviser at city hall, which drafted the development plan, did not return phone calls seeking comment. Court officials also could not be reached.
“I expect the other side will definitely appeal this decision but in the meantime, they must abide by it and that means removing police from Taksim and allowing citizens to return to Gezi Park,” Atalay said. Gezi has been shut to the public since June 15.
Reuters
