Unlicensed luxury building in Bodrum demolished

BODRUM

In a bid to stop illegal construction works in Turkey’s world-famous resort town of Bodrum, local municipality workers have demolished a deluxe building overlooking the Güvercinlik Bay.

The demolition work in the Güvercinlik neighborhood, a popular place adjacent to a natural park, was mostly completed on May 6, local media reported. The demolition teams returned to the scene on May 8 to finish the task with extra safety measures to protect the nearby public road, according to the reports.

An administrative court in the southwestern province of Muğla on April 30 had denied an application by the owner of the building for the suspension of the execution of the demolition decision by the municipality.

“The decisions to demolish the unlicensed building were taken by the standing committee of the Bodrum Municipality on Oct. 9, 2018 and Nov. 6, 2018 in accordance with article 32 of the Zoning Law numbered 3194,” said a statement on the local administration’s website on May 1.

Mayor calls on locals

The unlicensed building has been one of the symbols of the illegal constructions on the Bodrum Peninsula which houses several tourism hotspots and lies just 12 miles off the Greek island of Kos.

Bodrum’s newly elected Mayor Ahmet Aras, of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), vowed to clear the district of illegal settlements during his campaign ahead of the local polls on March 31.

In a press conference held in front of the municipality building open to the public on April 24, Aras pointed to 101 unlicensed structures across the district.

“Please put right your own mistakes of unlicensed construction. Don’t wait for us to come and intervene. We will put all our support behind you. We will not bestow any privilege on anyone. We are fully determined. On the contrary case we will lose Bodrum forever,” he said, citing water and electricity shortages especially during peak tourism season.

Some residents and businesses in Bodrum have reportedly already responded to the calls from the mayor positively.

“The mobilization of our municipality against unlicensed constructions has received support from the citizens. Some enterprises have started removing structures which were recorded as unlicensed officially in advance of an intervention by our teams,” said a post on the official Twitter account of the Bodrum Municipality on May 3.

The post included pictures of demolition works on the shores of Bodrum carried out by locals.