Alanya Castle property to be expropriated for $124,000

An expropriation price of 727,000 Turkish Liras ($124,000) has been determined for the house complex of an Austrian citizen, who was found guilty of damaging the historical fortification wall of Alanya Castle during construction.

Walter Godina was fined by the district municipality of Alanya in the Mediterranean province of Antalya in October for damaging six meters of the city wall during renovation works. He was also sued by the Museum Directorate of Alanya and the Regional Board for Protecting the Cultural Heritage.

Finally, a team of appraisal was assigned by the Culture and Tourism Ministry to detect the real estate value of the 132-square-meter historical house and the surrounding land. The total amount was established as 727,351 liras ($123.804).

The Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board advised for expropriation of the property, as the situation posed for risk both for the environment and the historical heritage site. The General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums recently approved the decision.

The nearly 2,100-year-old Alanya Castle, which was included on the UNESCO Tentative List in 2000, welcomes around 2 million visitors in a year. The castle was built in the Hellenistic era on an area of 10 hectares and is surrounded with six kilometers of walls. It hosted the Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and the Ottoman civilizations for many years.

In October, Godina defended himself saying that all the renovation work fell within the boundaries of law.

Emrah Kaya, who consulted Godina for a real estate appraisal, had also claimed that the recent zoning amnesty gave him the rights to make changes on the city walls without destroying it.

Turkey,