Topkap? Palace must be reinforced, expert warns

Following the collapse of a wall in Istanbul's historic Gülhane Park, which killed two people and injured five others, ?lber Ortayl?, the former director of Topkap? Palace Museum, said alarm bells were ringing for the entire compound unless a thorough reinforcement project started immediately.  

An expert who knows the complex extremely well, Ortayl? pointed out that the historic Gülhane Park, a green area between the Marmara Sea and the city's Sirkeci neighborhood, used to be the private garden of the sultans residing in Topkap? Palace. Ortayl? said, "It is surrounded and protected by what is called an imperial wall. If you approach the garden from the Sarayburnu direction, you should cross the railroad and on your left there is a tea garden, a cafe on a hilltop. This café is famous because of its easy access. You can enjoy the view."

The wall that collapsed last week was right below this tea garden.  

Ortayl? said one side of the wall, the one closer to Topkap? Palace, was 25 meters high. "That wall is a supporting wall, built for the purpose of holding the earth behind. Both the 25-meter-high part and the other lower part were built as a masonry wall. The problem starts there. It is not a wall of cut stones connected to each other. Its width is about one meter or one and a half meters. It is an inadequate supporting wall, filled with loose colluvial soil. Apparently, trees have grown there and the roots of these trees have damaged the wall."

Another problem according to Ortayl? is that the wall is not properly maintained, as a section of the wall is under the responsibility of the municipality but the wall extends inside Topkap? Palace. "There are problems in military storage facilities built in the 19th century. Chief experts...