Court decision cancels Taksim Artillery Barracks project that triggered Gezi protests

ISTANBUL

The Taksim Square pedestrianization project and the Artillery Barracks project have lost their legal grounds. DHA photo

The controversial Taksim pedestrianization project and the Artillery Baracks project, which was planned to be built on the site of Gezi Park, have been canceled according to an administration court’s June 6 decision, the details of which were revealed today.

The Taksim Square pedestrianization project and the Artillery Barracks project have lost their legal grounds, according to the details of the Istanbul first Regional Court’s June 6 decision.

The court decided to cancel the changes over the 1/5000 scale and 1/1000 scale construction plans for Beyoğlu, which automatically cancelled the pedestrianization and the Artillery Barracks projects. Countrywide protests against the Artillery Barracks project started in Taksim Square late May and spread across the country, leading to the deaths of three protesters and one policeman.

The complaint about the changes was filed by the Istanbul Chambers of Architecture and Istanbul Chamber of City Planners. The court’s decision, revealed a day after the Istanbul sixth Regional Court, which had suspended the redevelopment plans of Gezi Park late May, has rejected the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s appeal against the ruling. The court’s decision, based on the definitive ruling of the Istanbul first Regional Court, canceled the pedestrianization project altogether.

After weeks of protests, the government had vowed to respect the court’s decision regarding the fate of Gezi Park that became the symbol of the nationwide protest.

Prof. Dr. Deniz İncedayı, the head of the Istanbul Chamber of Architects, told the Hürriyet Daily News that the court’s decision was very meaningful.

The definitive ruling underlines that the project will damage the historical identity and social life in this area, said İncedayı. “It also emphasizes that this project is against the public interest and modern urbanization understanding,” she added.