Şişli mayor blamed over allowing skyscraper

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

A member of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) has filed a criminal complaint against Istanbul’s Şişli district’s independent mayor Mustafa Sarıgül for “changing zoning plans for a hotel chain’s construction.”
A city councilor, Dursun Çaltı, blamed Şişli’s independent Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül for abusing his authority by letting a building be constructed which demolishes a mosque’s silhouette.

A hotel chain in Şişli built a 45 story building behind the district’s landmark mosque. Çaltı said “the construction was a knife stabbed in Şişli’s heart.”

Story limits
Only six story buildings were allowed in the neighborhood, Çaltı said, adding that Mayor Sarıgül illegally approved the 45 story building by overriding his authority. Çaltı demanded Mayor Sarıgül be dismissed from his post in his complaint.

“Construction plans were changed for this building which is nearly 100-meters long,” Çaltı said.
The building is designed to be a hotel, according to reports.

“The highest building in the area can be up to 18.5 meters. However, this building is 45 meters. It not only disrupts the silhouette of the Şişli mosque, which is right above it, but also that of the city,” he said.