Trees to be planted in Istanbul’s Taksim Square after constructions finish: District mayor

ISTANBUL

Trees will be planted in Istanbul’s symbolic Taksim Square after ongoing construction works, Beyoğlu district mayor Ahmet Misbah Demircan said on May 28, daily Habertürk reported.

Demircan said there would be trees in Taksim Square and İstiklal Avenue, while adding that there were infrastructural differences between putting up trees in parks and squares.

“There are fundamental differences between planting trees in parks and squares. So, there is a different kind of planting work happening. There will be trees on the İstiklal Avenue; even more beautiful than before,” he said.

He also said the works would be happening in Taksim Square too after the construction works are completed, adding that there will also be tramway track running through İstiklal Avenue.

“Infrastructure works of the tramway line that will last for the next 100 years is ongoing. Before, the pavements were wearing out while the trams were running on the tracks. But that will no longer happen now. Now, they will never wear out,” he said.   

Demircan stated that the sewers were also renewed, while sidewalks were also set to be renewed in the coming days, vowing that power outages would never happen again. 

“The power lines, which are over 100 years old, will be renewed. No power outages will happen ever again in Beyoğlu. The old power lines were causing the power blackouts,” he added. 

Demircan also stressed that Taksim Square would never be open to traffic.

“Turkey is going through a process with Europe and the world. There is a significant decrease in the number of tourists coming to Turkey from Europe. The absence of tourists in İstiklal Avenue has been felt. When tourists come here, you do not feel like this. İstiklal Avenue is the apple of Istanbul’s eye. Business had increased by 100 percent in the past 10 years on İstiklal Avenue. The number of stores, shops and venues increased to 19,500 from 4,500 in 10 years,” he said.

He said approximately 1 million tourists were coming to İstiklal Avenue on a daily basis.

“The purchasing trends of customers who come to İstiklal Avenue are very different. This shifting trend also changes the types of products sold. Naturally, the expectations of Arab and European tourists are different,” he added.

He did not give a date to when the construction works on the avenue and square would finish, but said it would be more appropriate for the Istanbul Municipality to announce.