Salıpazarı shopping mall project canceled after controversies

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

Forestry and Water Affairs Minister Veysel Eroğlu (2R) and Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar (not pictured) attend the International Solid Waste, Water and Wastewater Congress in Istanbul. AA photo

Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar announced at an Istanbul congress yesterday that the Salıpazarı shopping mall project had been cancelled due to the controversies it stirred. 

Speaking at the opening session of the Istanbul International Solid Waste, Water and Wastewater Congress at the Haliç Congress Center, Bayraktar confirmed the cancellation of the controversial project that would see the building of a shopping mall in Istanbul’s historic open market Salıpazarı. “Our ministry developed the zoning plan of this project but we faced harsh objections. At this point, we made a new regulation to turn there into a picnic area, parking space, and a square. We took the objections into account,” Bayraktar said, following a question on the cancellation of Salıpazarı shopping mall project. 

He said the original mall project had been “completely abandoned.” “Works are ongoing. When a technical subject gets clearer, we will share [the developments] with Istanbul public and the press,” Forestry and Water Affairs Minister Veysel Eroğlu said on the same issue. With regard to the Fikirtepe urban transformation project that was cancelled with a ministry decision, Bayraktar said “We took action to accelerate the ongoing projects. We took this decision to help our Metropolitan Municipality. I wish good luck to the rights holders in Fikirtepe and Kadıköy.” 

“Our current plan is to shape the area into a more healthy condition. The best designs will be implemented there,” Bayraktar said with on the Fikirtepe plan.