Germany behind Gezi protests to stop Istanbul’s third airport: Ruling AKP lawmaker

EDİRNE

Germany does not want the planned third airport in Istanbul, Burhan Kuzu, a Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker and head of the Parliament’s Constitution Commission, said at a meeting in the northwestern province of Edirne Aug. 4. DHA photo

Germany does not want the planned third airport in Istanbul and the EU member state had a role in the countrywide Gezi Park protests, a senior ruling party lawmaker has said.

“Many envy the development of Turkey,” Burhan Kuzu, a Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker and head of the Parliament’s Constitution Commission, said at a meeting in the northwestern province of Edirne Aug. 4.

“We are building a new airport in Istanbul, which will be one of the three biggest airports of the world,” Kuzu added. “When it is completed, Frankfurt Airport in Germany will lose its importance. Hence, in the recent Gezi incidents, Germany, along with agents, has a major role.”

There was information to back up his claim, Kuzu said, adding that other countries “that do not want a strong Turkey” had also intervened in the protests.

The third airport in Istanbul is planned to be constructed on Istanbul’s European side between the Black Sea regions of Yeniköy and Akpınar, on an area of 7,659 hectares.

The Cengiz-Kolin-Limak-Mapa-Kalyon Consortium, a joint venture of Turkish companies, has won the tender for the airport that will eventually have an annual capacity of 150 million passengers, promising to pay the government 22.1 billion euros for 25 years starting from 2017.