İstanbul Mayor İmamoğlu slams removal of banners against canal project

Click to read the article in Turkish

İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has slammed the removal of municipality's banners against the Canal İstanbul project by the Governor's Office. "If they will take action, my advice is this: Don't bother with banners, my social media posts have been there for months," he has said.

The Governor's Office of İstanbul removed the banners of İstanbul Municipality against the Canal İstanbul project, a planned artificial waterway between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. The Municipality had been hanging these informative banners on open-air advertising units that belong to itself and whose locations are set by tender specifications.

CLICK - Police remove municipality's banners against canal project

Attending the opening of the Büyükçekmece Employment Office yesterday (August 20), İmamoğlu answered the questions of reporters.

In response to a question regarding the removal of the banners by the Governor's Office, İmamoğlu briefly said:

"It was an irregular process. The dialogue about this issue was, unfortunately, not nice. It is against the law, it is contrary to law. It was a process where the jurisdiction of the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality was intervened. A notification was sent at around 8-9 in the evening, 'Take them down by midnight," Mr. Governor was saying. But there is no justification, no justification was written there. That cannot happen.

'We will keep informing the public'

"We are a state of law, we abide by the laws, no one should have any doubts about this. It was a process that we let it be and watched from a distance to prevent any disturbance, unrest or ugly scenes on the part of city dwellers. But no one should think that we have stepped back in the face of such an attitude and behavior. Our determined attitude persists. In that sense, we will fulfil our responsibility of informing the public to the end.

"We still stand up against this project which is planned to be done on millions of square meters of land belonging not only to the İMM, but also to the people and was drafted behind closed doors without asking a single citizen, we are still against this project, its plans and entire process.

"If they take action, my advice is this: Don't bother with banners. They were going to be removed on Friday anyway. On Friday, we had our victory day, we will hang our banners. There is both the Manzikert Victory and August 30 Victory Day, we were going to hang our banners about them. But my social media posts have been there for months. They can launch an investigation about them, if there are those who find it right that an investigation is launched or supposed to be launched. We will answer for this, too."

Latest developments about Canal İstanbul

Tender won by Rönesans Group

The tender lodged by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Directorate General of Highways for constructing the "Northern Marmara Highway (including 3rd Bosphorus Bridge) Project Nakkaş-Başakşehir (including link roads) section" with build-operate-transfer model is won by Rönesans Group, which also undertook the construction of Presidential Complex in Ankara.

Afterwards, it has been understood that these roads are the roads of "New City" (Yenişehir) which will be constructed as part of Canal İstanbul.

Nadir Ataman, an İstanbul Metropolitan Municipal Council member from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), has said, "With the road tender lodged with the model of build-operate-transfer, it is seen that citizens will pay even to see the Canal İstanbul New City."

Drinking water basin zoned for construction

According to the 3rd stage plans of Canal İstanbul project covering 10 villages, Sazlıdere Dam, which partly meets İstanbulites' water needs, will be completely destroyed as it will be a part of the canal.

With these plans, the drinking water basins around the dam will also be zoned for construction. It is understood that when plans were still pending evaluation and objection, annotations were put on the title deeds of citizens.

The plans also foresee the construction of buildings with "a ground floor + 3 floors" around Canal İstanbul.

İt is also seen that no solutions have been developed to save the Şahintepe - Yarımburgaz Cave, where the first settled life started in the region 400 thousand years ago. In the current situation, Yarımburgaz Caves might be destroyed as a result of the project.

The 3rd stage plans of the project cover an area of 5 thousand 893 hectares and 10 villages, namely Çilingir, Dursunköy, Hacımaşlı, Hadımköy, Haraççı, Sazlıbosna, Güvercintepe, Kayabaşı, Şahintepe and Şamlar.

The village settlements it Hacımaşlı, Sazlıbosna and Çilingir and agricultural fields in Dursunköy and Şamlar are also a part of the plan.

An agricultural field of 10 thousand hectares will be lost

With these plans, several agricultural fields, pasturelands and several other sites have been zoned for construction. While a road is to be build on Çilingir Village Cemetery, the villages on the route of Canal İstanbul project have been completely changed with the new plans.

According to the data of the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, when the 1 to 100,000 Scale Environmental Plan for İstanbul dated 2009 is examined, it is seen that the total amount of agricultural land was 11 thousand 218 hectares.

However, when the plan change as to Canal İstanbul in 2020 is examined, this figure drops to 733 hectares. In other words, an agricultural field of 10 thousand 485 hectares will be lost as a result of the project.

In the plan dated 2009, the total amount of forestland was indicated as 2 thousand 984 hectares; but, when the plan change dated 2020 is examined, it is seen that this figure also drops to 2 thousand 134 hectares. So, with Canal İstanbul project, a forestland of 850 hectares will be lost.

As for pasturelands, it will drop from its former amount of 497 hectares to zero (0) in 2020. That being the case, the villagers living in the region will no longer have lands to graze their animals when the project is completed.

While the planned land in the project site was 12 thousand 509 hectares, it has increased to 35 thousand 714 hectares after Canal İstanbul project, which will lead to construction in and around the project site.

While an area of 2 thousand 526 hectares is now open to construction in the region, this figure has reached 9 thousand 446 hectares with the project.

It foresees 1.2 million additional population to come to the city.

CLICK - What does draft legislation on Canal İstanbul foresee? What are the latest developments?

(AÖ/SD)