Court annuls numerous project plans threatening authenticity of historic Istanbul peninsula

An Istanbul court has annulled a large number of reconstruction project plans for multiple places in Istanbul's centuries-old historical peninsula, stating that the projects will ease modern city life, but damage the peninsula's original fabric.

The Istanbul 2nd Administrative Court on April 24 annulled more than half of the items of a 61-item reconstruction project plan covering a large part of Istanbul's historical peninsula based on a 286-page expert report on major projects such as an under-Bosphorus tunnel pass with access roads running along a historical train station, a wholesale fish market, a huge bus park area and a large garden by the historical walls of the old city.  

The court annulled the project plan of the Eurasia Tunnel Pass, an underwater tunnel project slated to pass through various parts of the historical peninsula, which the report said was designed more to ease the flow of vehicle traffic on the peninsula rather than protect the city's silhouette.

The court also annulled the execution of a project plan to construct recreational areas and several open-air sports centers across a vast area including the Yedikule Gardens, a large green space along the old city's walls that is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The court said the project was not in accordance with the historical identity of the old city walls.   

Stating the reconstruction conditions and purposes were not clearly stated for an area registered as a municipal service area, the court annulled another project plan to build a marina on the area of the Kumkap? Wholesale Fish Market, which was demolished on the grounds that it lay on an access road leading out to the Eurasia Tunnel Pass.

The court also changed from "commercial area" to ...