Controversy grows over shopping mall and parking lot in Ephesus Ancient City

Ephesus Ancient City, one of Turkey's most important archaeological treasures, is at the center of a new controversy.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is having a shopping mall and a large parking lot built within the scope of a "visitor welcome center" at the ancient site.

The project in question is being carried out in the sensitive area where the Koressos settlement and the ancient harbor are located, adjacent to the ancient city. Experts emphasized that georadar studies conducted in the region have revealed the presence of numerous historical artifacts that have not yet been unearthed.

CONSTRUCTION HAS BEGUN, PERMITS SPARK DEBATE

By law, while the İzmir No. 1 Cultural Heritage Preservation Board paved the way for the project, the Ephesus-Selçuk Municipality rejected the permit application. Following this, the ministry obtained the permit from the İzmir Provincial Directorate of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. Work with heavy construction machinery has begun in the area, and the construction site has been surrounded by barriers.

It is stated that the project will spread over a massive area of approximately 130 decares. Of this, 33 thousand square meters are planned as a parking lot, and 1,265 square meters as a construction area.

Filling and infrastructure works have already started to become visible.

DEVELOPMENT IN THE REGION RECEIVES RECORD-LEVEL BACKLASH

In the project, which the ministry describes as "commercial units," it is planned to build a shopping mall consisting of 61 shops and a giant parking lot for 180 buses.

Ephesus Selçuk Mayor Filiz Ceritoğlu Sengel evaluated the project as "contrary to the texture of the ancient city and the law." Sengel reacted by saying, "While it is forbidden to even plant a tree here, let alone build, today concrete is being poured into the heart of history and human heritage by the hand of the ministry."

Harsh criticisms of the project have also risen from the political world.

CHP İzmir Deputy and Chair of the Presidential Candidate Office's Culture and Tourism Policy Board, Seda Kaya Ösen, stated, "This is not a welcome center; it is a commercial rent complex driven into the history of Ephesus. This is a plunder project."

CHP İzmir Deputy Deniz Yücel argued that asphalt would be poured over an area the size of six football stadiums as part of the project, and that the tender process was conducted in a way that lacked transparency.

Yücel commented on the project as "an initiative that strikes a blow to historical artifacts and plunders the riches of Anatolia," and took the matter to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM).

ENVIRONMENTALISTS PREPARE FOR LEGAL BATTLE

The Aegean Environment Platform (EGEÇEP) announced that they would initiate a legal process, stating that the project poses a serious threat to archaeological integrity. The platform's spokesperson, Lawyer Arif Ali Cangı, said, "We will file a lawsuit within the legal timeframe. We invite friends of Ephesus to join our struggle."

It has been learned that UNESCO will also put the developments in Ephesus under the microscope and initiate an investigation into the matter. It is also known that the Ephesus Ancient City was visited by approximately 2 million 700 thousand tourists last year.

(Note: This news was first published by Gökmen Ulu in the Sözcü newspaper.)