Old quarry to become ‘National Park’: Kurum

An old quarry in Istanbul's Kartal district has become a natural habitat with a pond that hosts fish and birds over time, with the area planned to be turned into a National Park.

Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum met with neighborhood residents at the Kartal Orhantepe neighborhood's urban transformation project meeting.

Stating that he came with some good news for Kartal, Kurum said that they approved and finalized the zoning plans to establish natural habitats in an area of approximately 14 hectares covering some of Kordonboyu, Yukarı and Petrol İş neighborhoods, locally known under the names of 'Kartal Etap-1' and 'Kartal Etap-2,' the most problematic places in the district.

Kurum stressed that the residents of the area need more green spaces and national parks, and the old quarry is the perfect place for it.

Noting that "Istanbul will breathe" with a national park in Kartal, Kurum said that they designed the architectural plans of the park in a way that still preserves the natural state of the quarry in the Esentepe neighborhood, and the works for the construction of the 313,000 square meter-sized Kartal National Park will soon begin.

Kurum stated that the quarry, which has been operating on the sides of the E-5 highway in Kartal for decades and has been the subject of a project for some time, is the only quarry left in the city center of Istanbul.

"We could have filled the quarry and made it a landscaping area, but we are signing a new project by preserving the natural state of the quarry and the ecosystem in its waters. It will include a coffee shop, concert area, geology museum, digital arts center and sports fields," Kurum added.

Kurum announced that the construction of the...