Architects set to stop destruction of Emek

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The legal process in relation to Istanbul’s historical Emek Movie Theater was discussed by the Istanbul Chamber of Architects yesterday at a press conference.

The Istanbul Chamber of Architects has initiated legal proceedings in response to the court’s recent annulment of the stay of execution of renovation of historical Emek Theater in the Cercle d’Orient building complex on İstiklal Avenue, according to an official announcement made yesterday.

The chamber organized a press meeting to discuss the legal procedure in relation to the building in question and informed the assembled media how they planned to retaliate.

Too many unlawful acts

Chamber member Mücelle Yapıcı said the legal procedure had been blemished with too many unlawful acts and the chamber was determined to unveil them in detail.

“Emek Theater belongs to the Social Security Institution [SGK] but was lent out to private construction company Kamer İnşaat in 1993 for 25 years,” she said. “That is when the story begins. We finally managed to get the court to issue a stay of execution for the project, which has been developed and supported together by the Culture Ministry, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the Beyoğlu Municipality, but the court then annulled it.”

Chamber’s attorney Can Atalar said the annulment was based on a report the court had requested so it could make its final decision. “However, the report is problematic. It includes views of three experts; two of them express views in support of the stay of execution, while the third expert Suat Çakır expresses views about the appropriateness of the renovation project. And the court, guided by a different judiciary committee to the one that issued the stay of execution, decided upon its annulment… Importantly, the annulment came in six months after the experts’ report reached the court,” he said.
Yapıcı said the chamber immediately petitioned the court against the annulment of the stay of execution and contended the credibility of the report.

She also said the chamber was to support a civil demonstration to be held Dec. 24 with the participation of the Turkish Film Critics Association (SİYAD) and prominent names from the Turkish art and cinema scene.