First saplings in ‘Turkey’s biggest national park’ planted with official ceremony

ISTANBUL

Some 145,300 saplings, a reference to 1453, the year of the conquest of Istanbul, have been planted in the Atatürk Airport National Park in Istanbul, a venue that will be Turkey’s biggest national park when finished.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, along with approximately 1 million visitors, attended the planting ceremony held for the 569th anniversary of the conquest on May 29.

The 5-million-square-meter venue, which will only be open for pedestrians with vehicles not allowed, will also be the fifth-largest national park worldwide.

According to the officials, the first part of the park will open in May 2023.

“The Atatürk Airport National Park will be on the ‘world’s Top-5 parks’ list, with Bitsevsky in Russia, Monsanto Forest Park in Portugal, Fairmount Park in the U.S. and Phoenix Park in Ireland,” the officials said.

The park’s first sample field, in which a 350-year-old olive tree and dozens of lime and plane trees have been planted, was also opened on May 29 for the conquest ceremony. Also, a rose garden exists on the sample field.

Within the scope of the projects, a sports hall with a capacity of 2,000 people and an activity center that will host some 28,000 people at the same time will be constructed.

Children’s parks, with seven different themes, will be built on a 10,000-square-meter area of land. A technology center will train the youth in robotics.