Demolition on coastline to start in two months, minister says

ANKARA - Hürriyet

Environment and Urbanization Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar reiterated that demolition of illegal buildings on coastlines would start in two months, also saying that it would become harder to become a contractor in Turkey. 

Bayrak said the demolition of buildings illegally constructed along the Aegean and Mediterranean coastlines would start in two months, during a visit to the Turkish daily Hürriyet.
 
“Big hotels are among the buildings that will be demolished. Some will try to agitate or work against me. They will target me harshly, but there is no easy way to do this,” said Bayraktar about their demolition plan.

Bayraktar said the constructions built before 1992 would not be demolished as they had an acquired right over these properties. “A majority of the coastline structuring is unlicensed, lacking housing right, or built against the housing law, or built completely in illegal ways. These are our main issue,” said Bayraktar, adding that they would try not to disturb the tourism or investment sector. He said they had already started “small demolitions.” 

He also criticized the number of contractors in Turkey, saying that these should be qualified people. 
“It’s not normal to have 200,000 contractors… People dislike me, but the inspections will become more frequent,” said Bayraktar. He said that they had brought an end to the understanding among the contractors that they could take a project from the state and then prolong the deadline or go to court.