Court Blocks Access to Reports on Minister Albayrak's Purchase of Land Near Canal İstanbul

Access has been blocked to three news articles on bianet English, Cumhuriyet newspaper and LeMan humor magazine.

İstanbul

Court Blocks Access to Reports on Minister Albayrak's Purchase of Land Near Canal İstanbul

Click to read the article in Turkish

A court has blocked access to a news report on Minister of Finance and Treasury Berat Albayrak's purchase of land near the planned route of the Canal İstanbul project.

Daily Cumhuriyet first reported on the purchase on January 20. It said Albayrak bought the land in 2012, about a year after the canal project was announced by then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

bianet and LeMan humor magazine, along with many other national outlets, also reported Albayrak's investment, citing the Cumhuriyet.

İstanbul 7th Penal Court of Peace blocked the access to the articles on Cumhuriyet, LeMan and bianet English. The article on bianet Turkish is still accessible.

A notice on the blocked page says, "Access to this website has been blocked upon the following order as per Law No. 5651."

CLICK - Report Reveals Minister Albayrak Bought Land Near Canal İstanbul (not accessible in Turkey)

According to the blocked report, the land Albayrak bought was previously zoned for agriculture but after the Ministry of Environment and Urbanism changed the zoning plans because of Canal İstanbul, it has become a housing area.

Canal İstanbul project

President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a statement in 2011, when he was still the Prime Minister. In his speech, he mentioned "a new İstanbul" objective. Presented as a "crazy project", the plan referred to 'Canal (Kanal) İstanbul' for the first time.

What is in the 'crazy project'?

The basic information as to the project was shared with the public at a press conference in Haliç Congress Center in 2011.

The plan foresaw an artificial sea-level waterway that would connect the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. Accordingly, the project was extending from the region known as old stone pits on Black Sea shores in the north to Sarıyer in the east and Karaburun in the west. While the residences in Sarıyer center, Kemerburgaz, Göktürk and Arnavutköy have been excluded from the project, the damaged parts of the forest along the forest boundary have been included in the project. Sarıyer region, which is a historical protected area, marked the eastern border of the project.

The work area was determined as 33 thousand 500 hectares and located at the borders of Arnavutköy, Eyüp and Sarıyer districts. There were 21 villages with a population of 41 thousand 749 people within the designated work area.

The most important aspect of the project was the integration of transportation. The construction of 3rd Bosphorus bridge foreseen by the project has been completed. Minister Arslan stated that they would start the construction work this year.

Region opened to unearned income with bag bill

In May 2016, 32 articles of 20 laws were amended. An additional article added to the Pasture Law has paved the way for the region's zoning for construction.

With another amendment introduced to the law, it has been understood that the access roads to the Canal İstanbul will be toll roads.

Its route was announced in 2018

Ahmet Arslan, the then Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications, announced the route of the project in 2018. He said that the canal would form an artificial waterway from the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea, covering 45 kilometers from Küçükçekmece Lake through Küçükçekmece-Sazlıdere-Durusu corridor.

(HA/VK)