Demolished wall of Galata Tower rebuilt

* Photos: İMM

Click to read the article in Turkish

İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İMM) has taken legal action about the restoration works ongoing in Galata Tower without an approved project.

Appealing to the İstanbul Public Prosecutor's Office and the İstanbul No. 2 Regional Board for Preservation of Cultural Assets, the İMM has filed a criminal complaint about the restoration works undertaken in the city's iconic tower that was handed over to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism by a Presidential Decree on May 13, 2020.

On the other side, going to the tower today (August 13), the İMM Preservation Implementation and Inspection (KUDEB) and İMM municipal police teams examined the site and found out that the wall that was demolished with hammer drills yesterday has been put up again.

CLICK - Demolition in İstanbul's iconic Galata Tower in the name of restoration

In its criminal complaint, the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality has underlined that in order for a company to undertake restoration works in a historic building or site, it shall first have a restoration project approved by the Directorate General of Foundations.

"In defiance of the decisions taken by the Protection Area Boards, no constructional and physical intervention shall be made in the immovable cultural and natural heritage and protected areas or protected sites, they shall not be reopened for use or their use shall not be changed," the petition of the İMM has read, briefly adding:

"A thorough repair, construction, installation, drilling, partial or complete demolition, burning, excavating and similar other works are considered to be constructional and physical intervention."

Referring to the video shared on social media yesterday, the petition of the municipality has noted that original load-bearing walls were damaged with hammer drills and construction equipment and it was seen that the original materials were broken into pieces.

"The use of construction equipment in treating officially registered immovable cultural heritage leads to irreparable damage," the petition has read further, adding, "Moreover, when the height of the Galata Tower is taken into account, the demolition in question was carried out on the ground level where the vertical load of the bearing wall is the highest and suffers the strongest force in the event of an earthquake."

Against this technical background, the petition has underlined that "the intervention in question directly affects the bearing force of the structure."

The İMM has also noted in its petition that its teams went to the scene of the incident upon seeing the videos shared on social media; however, they were not allowed to enter the tower by the contracting firm's officials.

İMM's Head of Cultural Assets Department Mahir Polat has also shared a document indicating that the demolition in question was carried out without a restoration project approved by the Protection Board.

"The Galata Tower Restoration Project was submitted to the No. 2 Regional Protection Board today to get a permission for the demolition undertaken yesterday. First, demolition; then, permission... No way!"

Galata Kulesi yıkım işlemi herhangi bir Koruma Kurulu onaylı restorasyon projesi olmadan yapılmıştır.

Dün yapılan yıkım işlemin iznini almak için 2 Nolu B. Koruma Kuruluna bugün Galata Kulesi Restorasyon Projesi sunulmuştur. Önce yıkım sonra kurul izni olamaz! #GalataKulesi pic.twitter.com/e5jthCD23A

— Mahir Polat (@mhrpolat) August 13, 2020

(HA/SD)