'Land' dispute between AKP municipality and that religious community: Construction of building blocked
A new chapter has been added to the recent frequent debates between the government and the Süleymancılar community. Most recently, the AKP-run Güngören Municipality converted the community's land into a green space, preventing the construction of a building.
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In Istanbul, the 'land crisis' between Güngören Municipality and the Süleymancılar community has escalated.
A zoning plan amendment proposal, which also bears the signature of AKP Mayor Bünyamin Demir, was submitted to the June session of the Güngören Municipal Council.
CONVERTED INTO GREEN SPACE
According to the report by İsmail Arı from BirGün; with the proposal accepted by the votes of AKP and MHP council members, the plans for the land belonging to the Çınar Education Volunteers Association, which is affiliated with the Süleymancılar Community, were changed. The proposal stated that the land was designated as an "indoor sports facility area" in the 2021 plan notes, but that this change was later canceled by the court, necessitating a new plan. Therefore, it was announced that the land had remained unplanned and, with the new plan amendment, it was this time converted into a "green space."
20 APARTMENTS WERE TO BE BUILT
In a letter sent by the community's Çınar Education Volunteers Association to the municipal council members, the following points were listed: "We purchased the land in 2020 for 1 million dollars. In 2017, a construction permit for a 20-apartment building had been issued for the land by the Güngören Municipality. For this reason, we decided on such an investment, trusting the reliability of public institutions. After we bought the land, the municipality wanted to turn our land into a sports facility area, but 4 years later, the judiciary found us right and canceled the plans. The Güngören Municipality, having failed to turn it into a sports facility area, now wants to plan our land as a 'green space' in the same way."
'WE CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO BE AN INSTRUMENT OF UNLAWFULNESS'
Güngören Municipal Council CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ergün Edepali stated, "The scale of religious communities close to the government or opposed to us means nothing to us. As stakeholders of a political understanding that does not believe that the religious or ideological identities of citizens or associations have any meaning before the law, and that evaluates events solely on the basis of rights and law, we cannot be expected to be an instrument of this unlawfulness."