Former mayor rebels: 'Requesting an EIA report for a hotel built 10 years ago is mocking the law'

A public participation meeting for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was scheduled to be held today for a 5-star hotel located within the İncekum Nature Park in the Avsallar neighborhood of Alanya, Antalya, which was built in 2015 but later found to have 175 unauthorized rooms. Ministry representatives and EIA firm officials who arrived at the meeting venue at the announced time were met with protests.

According to a report by Yusuf Yavuz from haber.sol.org.tr, local residents protested the meeting, arguing that the illegally constructed parts of the hotel, owned by businessman Mehmet Gür—known for his closeness to AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan—were being legitimized through the Public Participation Meeting. Consequently, the meeting, which aimed to present the existing construction as if it were a new project, could not be held due to the backlash.

Former Avsallar Mayor Şerif Kaya stated, "We, all the people of Alanya and the hoteliers, are guilty here. We could not protect something so valuable. Shame on us. They do not let the citizens enter the sea. They are building a wall into the sea. They call me a 'maniac' because I legally fight against these things. I have done all the work I could. There is a saying: 'He who steals the minaret prepares the case for it.' Requesting an EIA report for a hotel built 10 years ago is entirely mocking the law and the citizens. How are we supposed to swim? How are we supposed to walk on the beach? Are we not human?"

The Wome Deluxe Hotel, built within the İncekum Nature Park in Avsallar, opened in 2015. However, the facility, which operates under the "Halal Tourism" concept with gender-segregated services, had new annex buildings and rooms constructed over time.

The project introduction file prepared by the company, which applied to the Ministry to make the unauthorized annex structures and rooms "legal" under the EIA Regulation, was accepted, and it was announced that a Public Participation (EIA) Meeting would be held on April 18.

THE EIA MEETING COULD NOT BE HELD FOLLOWING THE PROTEST

Representatives of political parties and professional chambers in the district, who gathered at the venue for the meeting announced to be held at a cafe in Avsallar, protested the scandalous practice that was intended to be applied retroactively.

The protest, which was also attended by CHP Alanya District Chairman Bülent Kandemir and Alanya City Council President Nurhan Özcan, was supported by former Avsallar Mayor Şerif Kaya, Lawyer Mehmet Can Karagöz, Alanya Chamber of Architects Representative Didem Dim Özaltın, Mediterranean Youth Association President Muhittin Alp, and members of the All Retired Union (Tüm Emekli Sen).

The EIA meeting could not be held following the protest, which was also attended by local civil society organizations and citizens.

"I EXPLAINED THAT THIS PLACE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOCATED FOR TOURISM"

Explaining the developments that took place in the past regarding the issue, former Avsallar Mayor (1999-2004) Şerif Kaya stated that in 2002, when he was in office, the then-Minister of Forestry Osman Pepe gathered all the mayors regarding the issue and said, "They gave information that this place would be allocated for tourism and asked for our opinions. As the mayors of Alanya, we explained that this place was not suitable for this.

Since it is a place belonging to İncekum, I presented him with information about the work I had done.

I explained to him that this is the most perfect place created by God in terms of education and environment, not just for Avsallar, İncekum, or Alanya, but for all of Turkey and the world, and that it should not be allocated for tourism. Furthermore, there are 4 stones in the center dating back to the Roman period. I explained that there was an olive oil factory among these stones. I explained that this place is an archaeological site according to the protection boards in Turkey and that it is legally impossible to open it for construction. I presented the evidence and documents," he said.

"IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE TO GIVE IT TO A FACILITY"

Stating that they explained their efforts to uncover the ancient olive oil mill in the area through archaeological excavations to former Minister Osman Pepe, former Mayor Kaya said, "Minister Pepe listened to this issue and said he would evaluate it. Later, he called me on the phone. He told me that it would not be appropriate to give this place to a tourist facility because it is in a protected and archaeological area. Later, we see that this company bought this place and that today's problems have come before us in this way. I suppose these things were done because of a 'no EIA report required' letter at the time," he said.

"WE HAVE ENTERED A CONSPIRACY"

Also making a self-criticism regarding the incident, Kaya added the following in his speech:

"We, all the people of Alanya and the hoteliers, are guilty here. We could not protect something so valuable. Shame on us. They do not let the citizens enter the sea. They are building a wall into the sea. They call me a 'maniac' because I legally fight against these things. I have done all the work I could. There is a saying: 'He who steals the minaret prepares the case for it.' We will see how it will be prepared. Let's do whatever we need to do.

You cannot swim in the sea, you cannot see the forest, you forget the tree. Anyone who sees this and does not feel pain, or does not help, should not walk around calling themselves a citizen. I also condemn those who build facilities here. May the black earth satisfy those who do these things. What did those who helped with this get in return? You will all be satisfied with money, but you will see what you are satisfied with or not. We wrote letters to all kinds of ministries.

We have entered a conspiracy. The Ministry says 'I gave the order.' I go to the relevant institution. They say, 'It's not us, the Port Authority does it.' I go to the Port Authority, they say, 'The municipality does it.' A letter came from the Presidency saying that the Alanya Municipality is responsible for this. The relevant institution deceived us for 10 years. Requesting an EIA report for a hotel built 10 years ago is entirely mocking the law and the citizens. How are we supposed to swim? How are we supposed to walk on the beach? Are we not human?"

CHP DISTRICT CHAIRMAN KANDEMİR: WE WERE FACED WITH AN IMPOSITION HERE

Speaking on the subject, CHP Alanya District Chairman Bülent Kandemir said, "We were faced with an imposition here. They had already built the hotels and finished them. They tried to do the procedure they should have done 10 years ago, 10 years later. We all gave a message together by not letting this public information meeting take place, saying that we are against what you have done to them. Our friends also understood that this would not happen and left. The process from now on will continue in the courts. We will file a lawsuit against the EIA report. We want to prevent the violation committed there from growing even further legally. İncekum belongs to the people, we want it to remain for the people," he said.

"IT WAS SHOWN AS SMALL CAPACITY TO GET THE 'EIA NOT REQUIRED' REPORT"

CHP Alanya District Secretary Lawyer Mehmet Can Karagöz, referring to the EIA Regulation, said, "The law says that the EIA process cannot be completed without the public participation process. This is a meeting that is intended to be held due to a legal obligation.

There is already a facility that has been built. The facility that was built was previously shown as having a smaller capacity to obtain an 'EIA not required' report, but it was built with a larger bed capacity. After this was done, they benefited from the zoning amnesty.

This is not the construction of a new facility; it is the process of trying to legalize the part that was built more than what was shown. This is actually, in our opinion, the circumvention of existing legal regulations. We think we have expressed ourselves here," he said.

EIA DECISION WILL BE TAKEN TO THE JUDICIARY

Lawyer Karagöz added that if the EIA process continues and a decision is made, a lawsuit process will be initiated to seek the rights of the people of Alanya.

The owner of the hotel, which came to the agenda with the controversial EIA meeting, is Mehmet Gür, who is from the Güneysu district of Rize, the hometown of AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Gür, who founded a joint company with Bilal Erdoğan, Mustafa Erdoğan, and Ziya İlgen in 2014, had shares in the company named Ortadoğu Proje Geliştirme İnşaat Sanayi, which included shares from BMZ Denizcilik, founded by Bilal Erdoğan, Mustafa Erdoğan, and President Erdoğan's brother-in-law Ziya İlgen, and Mehmet Gür's company, Ortadoğu Nakliyat.

Mehmet Gür's name also came to the agenda in 2018 due to a 2 million TL debt owed to AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan. It was noted that the 2 million TL debt to Mehmet Gür was recorded in the list of the Supreme Election Council (YSK), which announced the assets declared by Erdoğan.