Court cancels expropriation of third Istanbul airport plots

ISTANBUL

An Istanbul court has ruled to cancel the expropriation of four plots of land within the scope of Istanbul’s planned third airport.

The decision came after the state-run property developer, the Housing Development Administration (TOKİ), failed to pay the landowners of the four plots around 16.3 million Turkish Liras. Following TOKİ's failure to pay, the landowners filed the case.

A report compiled by experts had increased the price of the land that needed to be paid by TOKİ by around tenfold.

Kemal Altın, the lawyer of one of the landowners, said the construction of the giant project will not be halted if TOKİ renews the expropriation process.

A consortium of Turkish contractors who will build Istanbul’s third airport plan to complete a financing deal by September, according to Nihat Özdemir, the chairman of the Limak Group, which is part of the consortium.

Özdemir said last month that they expected to finalize financial packages for the airport – which is slated to be one of world’s largest – by August, with the deadline set for September.

The Cengiz-Kolin-Limak-Mapa-Kalyon Consortium, a joint venture of Turkish companies, won the construction tender on May 3, 2013, promising to pay the state 22.1 billion euros, plus taxes, over 25 years, starting from 2017.