Ankara court halts construction plans in Ulus historic city center

A local court in Ankara has ruled for a stay of execution on the reconstruction plan of Ankara's historic Ulus city center on the grounds that the plan does not serve the public good. The Ankara 7th Administrative Court ruled for the stay of execution over the 1/5,000-scaled construction plan at Ulus Square in Ankara.

The Ankara branch of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) had filed a lawsuit against the project, claiming the plans do not serve the public good and demanded the cancellation of the project.

The tender to renovate some parts of the Ulus historic city center, located in the Alt?nda? district of the capital city, was announced on Jan. 6, 2014. The project was titled "1/5,000 scaled construction plan for the protection of the Ulus historic city center." The final version of the plan was accepted by the Ankara 2nd Board to protect Culture Assets on Sept. 22, 2014.

It was then enforced after the Ankara Municipality approved it on Sept. 24, 2014. Following the Ankara 7th Administrative Court's ruling, TMMOB made a statement over the issue. "The construction plan for the protection of the Ulus historic city center does not exist with this ruling," the statement said.

The statement also said the plan violated the previous plans and regulations.

"The plan violated the protection regulations, upper scale plans and it is also against the public good. The borders of archaeological site areas and natural site areas are also wrongly drawn in the map of the plan. The features of the historical city center and the planned constructions are inharmonic. The analysis and evaluations in the plan are insufficient. These plans which are done without any principle, conflict with the protection...