Minister says many trees to be felled for third airport while vowing to plant more

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Environment and Urban Planning Minister İdris Güllüce. AA Photo

A large number of trees in Istanbul’s northern regions could soon be cut down to make way for the city’s controversial third airport project after the Environment and Urban Planning Ministry said it would permit new settlements in a “reserve construction area.”

Environment and Urban Planning Minister İdris Güllüce said officials would cut down trees in the reserve construction space over a 38,500-hectare area between the Marmara Sea and the Black Sea, while vowing to plant more trees in their place once the project is completed.

He also said there were no exact figures for the number of trees to be cut down in the project, but added that the priority would be to protect public welfare.

Güllüce also said all procedures for the third airport project were legal and realistic, adding that expropriation was a necessity as officials want to rapidly begin construction on the site.