The Ministry takes action for cruise port

In this episode of the podcast series, we talked about the cruise port project planned to be built in Yenikapı, which came to our attention late last year with news with very little information. According to the news, the project, which will cost 940 million 550 thousand TL, will be tendered with the Build-Operate-Transfer model (BOT). The project is expected to be completed in 24 months. Before the January 14th Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA) meeting, our guest is Mücella Yapıcı, Secretary of the EIA Advisory Board of the Istanbul Metropolitan Branch of the Chamber of Architects…

‘This is a traitor to culture, a traitor to Istanbul’

Canan Coşkun: How much do we know about the details of the cruise port project to be built in Yenikapı? Let’s hear from you.

Mücella Yapıcı: We don’t know much. There hasn’t been much talk about it. In particular, we found out about it in a very strange way. As you know, the Historical Peninsula is a very important area in Istanbul. 

The Historical peninsula is not only important for Istanbul or Turkey. It is also a universal heritage. That is why not only our boards but also the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and the Turkish ICOMOS National Heritage Committee are concerned with the areas of the Historical peninsula that are of universal cultural heritage. There are some globally accepted criteria for these protected areas. In particular, these are areas where no project should be built that will affect the universal cultural heritage. At this point, there is a practice that is also practiced in the world, the Istanbul Historic Areas Area Management… Although it is not yet fully established in our law, this is an advisory board that is responsible for preparing reports to UNESCO on behalf of the state. 

The last meeting of the Advisory Board took place recently. So while we are working on preparing an opinion, there are some reports that the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is writing to the Turkish government. This happens every two years. There are some commissions and committees that meet. If you look at it, one of its articles means that it has gone to UNESCO, in other words, the World Heritage Committee has discussed it. The Yenikapı Cruise Harbour is mentioned. A basketball complex has been built there. There is also talk of a cruise port further away from Zeytinburnu on the same historical peninsula. Here, of course, there is Süleymaniye, Hagia Sophia again… From there we got to know the theme: “What does this mean?” 

Let’s start with a reminder. The Yenikapı and Maltepe reclamation areas are two of the biggest urban crimes committed in Istanbul. In other words, the filling of the sea, the filling of the sea by destroying both the ecology and the marine ecology has been the subject of serious lawsuits and criticism. There is also a political side to it. It started in 2013, and at that time, as you remember, Taksim Square was banned as a square after a point during the Gezi resistance.

After that, the Yenikapı garbage dump and the Maltepe garbage dump were proposed as squares. Let’s leave aside the Maltepe landfill. There is a huge threat there right now. In other words, it is a landfill in a city that is waiting for an earthquake, and it was built without following any landfill techniques. The same situation exists in Yenikapı… 

Yenikapı is a universal heritage site where the eyes of the historical peninsula, that is the world, are on it and it is being followed. There is a very unhealthy infill area that disturbs its geography, which looks like a tumor when you look at it. Because we don’t have a date with the earthquake, today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow… We are waiting for an earthquake that could happen at any moment, believe me, this is the most dangerous area. 

Those who lived through the 1999 earthquake know that during the earthquake the police forced people to move away from the embankments. But now we are doing something in both Maltepe and Yenikapı, where large crowds, millions of people, are gathering. There is even construction going on there. 

Now, if I were to tell you about the way these things were done at the time, there was also an urban transformation frenzy in 2013-14. Well, the biggest problem was where to put the construction waste. It was expensive. At that time, Yenikapı was declared the dumping ground for the European side and Maltepe for the Anatolian side. I think some things made billions of money out of it. We are not going there yet. Incoming dump, outgoing dump! This waste has not been screened; there is no rockfill, nothing. It is such a critical area.

At that time there was also talk of Galataport and the cruise port. We heard that and even thought about it. It could have been called reading intentions at the time, and we thought, “Are they going to build another port here, something like a cruise port?” The problem with cruise ports is not the arrival of the ship or anything like that; the problem is the cruise port clause that was added to the Turkish zoning law (I will call it great corruption, lawlessness, and impropriety). So if you call any beach a cruise port, you know that in our coastal law, the things that can be done on the coast are clear. But if you want to build a port, we can do things related to the technical facilities of that port. But if it’s a cruise port, you can do whatever you want! Here you go, Galataport… Do whatever you want, trade, hospital, hotel, housing… 

Now, according to this cruise port article, the issue is not a cruise. Because if it was about the cruise, you would build a place in a suitable part of the city, like other examples around the world. But the cruise ports in our country are natural, ecological, and cultural sites that we have to take care of (for example, the location of the Galataport is like this; it is the entrance to the Bosporus…). The Historical Peninsula is a public area open to the sea like Karaköy Square, you close the square of this mosque with “floating skyscrapers”. The real problem is those commercial areas you use at the back.) I can’t find words for this horrible thing in Yenikapı: I don’t want to say hunchback. I mean, how can geography be interfered with in such a way, how can it be degraded in such a way? 

To build a cruise port next to such an area, to fill it up, to build some constructions and dock cruise ships… The Historical Peninsula is a place where universal culture exists. Think about it, it is unimaginable… We started researching by chance and finally found out that the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation has a link called “e-ÇED” and we were informed directly by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation. If you go there, projects have been prepared for investment in the cruise port. There is no plan yet. However, the plan is hidden in the EIA report. 

The EIA report was prepared by a company called Dolfen… This is already a well-known company in Ankara. Now the EIA report has been prepared. I think the final EIA report is being prepared. And that was on the 14th of this month. 

This is really an issue that concerns all the people of the city, not only the people of the city but everybody universally… Imagine, the World Heritage Committee warns and there is ICOMOS, we have our own institutions. The public and all those concerned need to take the necessary action on this issue before it is too late. 

I would like to say one more thing. This is a very pathetic thing; especially during the filling of Yenikapı (of course, we had filed lawsuits against the Chamber of Architects), the most miserable thing was the answer we received when we applied to the authorities: “Since it is on the seaward side of the coastal line, it has nothing to do with Law No. 2863”. I mean, the historical peninsula… How can this happen? Look, normally you fill in a cultural property of universal value, and I emphasize this, you fill in a place in the Historical peninsula, and they say “The silhouette will not be affected”. Well, now you will build these buildings here and bring “floating skyscrapers” like we saw in Galataport and dock them here. Then there is the traffic. 

You know Istanbul… They also built the Eurasia tunnel illegally. You dug into the bottom of the historical peninsula. You have dumped all the toxic waste and exhaust fumes from the Eurasia Tunnel on the Historical peninsula. You have already created incredible traffic and air pollution there. Now, as if that weren’t enough, you’re planning a cruise port there. This is a betrayal of culture, a betrayal of Istanbul. The worst thing is that people no longer trust the law. But I hope they will abandon this extremely disturbing initiative on such an important occasion. 

‘Stop it for the future of our children and Istanbul’

C.C.: As far as we can read in the news, there will be an environmental impact assessment meeting on 14 January. As you said, before the project, which, as you said, includes many factors that may affect not only Istanbul but also the marine ecology, which may affect very large areas, have the institutions and chambers interested in this issue been informed?

M.Y.: No. I mean, you have to announce it to all the civil society organizations, to the public. In other words, you have to announce it to organized groups. Also, you get reports from UNESCO all over the world. I mean, I have these reports.

In its 44th session, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee clearly states this in its report to Turkey. But this is such an interesting thing that UNESCO is not very reliable at this point. Strangely, it warns the state and the state convinces it. It is such a strange, absurd thing. So UNESCO cannot be as effective as it used to be. 

You know, there was a time, especially in 2005, when Istanbul was going to be taken off the World Heritage List. The cultural heritage was threatened… It was very dangerous then. When the Golden Horn Bridge was built (we called it the “Horned Bridge”), there were interventions on the bridge. Again, they had a lot of influence on Haydarpaşa, but now, unfortunately, they are content with warnings. And we don’t listen to these warnings.

C.C.: Let’s finish with one last question. Are you going to attend the EIA meeting? Will there be any objections from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) to projects where huge amounts of money will be spent, which can be called wasteful? Will the Chamber of Architects object to this project? Are you going to attend the EIA meeting?

M.Y.: At the moment I don’t know how it would be legally possible for us to attend the EIA meeting. There is no such call, but there is an official announcement. So you can go there… Of course, when the final EIA report comes out, we will file a lawsuit against the report and the plan. But the point is that in Turkey, unfortunately, for a very long time, if you don’t get a stay of execution decision on issues that we are right about (it’s obvious that we are right, we win these cases), that is, the plan is suspended, you sue the EIA report and the lawsuit regarding the EIA report process continues. In the meantime, the plan is suspended. As soon as the plan is suspended and comes down, that is after the President signs it, construction starts. Before that, everything is finished. Projects are suddenly finished! 

As a result, even if you win the case, because you didn’t wait for the trial, the greatest damage is done on the spot. In other words, a murder has been committed. You can’t bring it back. Because what is lost is the loss of nature. For example, the Yenikapı dam should be removed immediately. Then it comes down to this: “It was a national treasure… How beautifully it was built. You know what happened in Kabataş. No pollution, where will you put this, where will you put that… In the end, this area is gone. This is what happened in Sulukule, this is what happened in Tarlabaşı, and we won all of them. 

So let us appeal to the courts from here. Please, please, until the expert reports are prepared, the excavations will be carried out there. Especially for the sake of our future, for the sake of the future of our children, and the sake of the future of Istanbul, it is necessary to demand that our administrative courts issue suspension orders in such cases, which are clearly against the law, at least until the courts have finished their work. This demand should be taken very seriously. Otherwise, of course, we will file a lawsuit.

C.C.: Let us hereby declare that we will follow every stage of this project and bring it to the agenda…