Court cancels access road plans for Istanbul’s third bridge

The amendment for a 1/5000-scaled construction plans for the area between the Beykoz and Sarıyer districts was called off by the Istanbul 8th Administrative Court. 

The ruling came after the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) Urban Planning Unit and the Chamber of Architects Istanbul Branch filed a lawsuit demanding the cancellation of the amendment.

The court said the amendment in the plans for the related area “will negatively affect the natural sources and ecological reserves of the city.” 

“The planned Bosphorus passing route that is part of Istanbul’s main arteries is not shown on the high-scaled landscaping plan. The 1/25000-scaled construction plan, namely the Northern Marmara Highway Regulation Plan, has nothing to do with the construction law and leaves no land for further use,” said the court in its ruling. 

The government has been criticized for its decisions for urgent expropriation of the green areas affected by the construction of Istanbul’s third bridge, as the areas are mostly covered with forests and water basins.

A number of areas in Istanbul’s European-side districts of Başakşehir, Arnavutköy and Sarıyer, as well as the Beykoz, Çekmeköy, Sancaktepe, Sultanbeyli and Ümraniye districts on the Anatolian side, were to be subject to rapid expropriation, according to a decision published in the Official Gazette on Jan. 14.

The Official Gazette, where all laws and amendments are published, shows the increase in the Turkish government’s “rapid expropriation” decisions in recent years. In 2011, the cabinet decided on rapid expropriation in just 11 cases, a number that increased remarkably to 160 in 2012, according to the Sendika.org news website. The number of rapid expropriation decisions increased again in 2013 to 250, according to the Official Gazette.