To hell with Safranbolu! Just pay the money and put up the monstrosity

When I saw the photos of “Safranbolu architecture 250 years ago vs. 250 years later” shared by my journalist friend Mehmet Çetinkaya on Facebook, I couldn't believe my eyes.

A contractor has erected a narrow building right in the heart of Safranbolu—a town that attracts thousands of tourists with its unique architecture dating back hundreds of years—blocking the front of the apartment buildings behind it like a wall.

In Safranbolu, which is an open-air museum with its historical structures and is therefore on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the contractor didn't even resort to illegal methods while building such a monstrosity; he went and got permission from the municipality, told the neighbors he would build 3 floors but went up to 5, and, as Safranbolu Mayor Elif Köse explicitly stated, even made a 500 thousand TL donation to the municipality. Mayor Elif Köse says this donation has nothing to do with the zoning permit granted to the building. However, the date the donation was made was in April of this year, and the start and completion of the building coincide with the same period, which is why the people of Safranbolu believe there is a connection between the donation and the permit.

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Mehmet Çetinkaya, who has been working as a journalist in Karabük for about 30 years with the local channel BRTV, investigated how and after which stages the building was erected with his journalist colleagues and reflected it in full detail on BRTV. If you wish, you can read and watch all the related news on Mehmet Çetinkaya's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/mehmet.cetinkaya.7).

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For some reason, when I saw the photos of this building in Safranbolu, the words of the late Alparslan Türkeş came to my mind.

One of the significant phrases that entered Turkish political life was the late MHP leader Alparslan Türkeş's words, “To hell with the mosaic!” He had given this response when a Kurdish MP spoke of a cultural mosaic.

I think these words reflect not just a period, but the philosophy of “imposition” that actually prevails in Turkey.

The events we are experiencing are actually the results of this philosophy.

If that were not the case, could anyone stand up and challenge the Constitutional Court, which is the highest court above the law?

It seems the contractor also thought, “To hell with Safranbolu and its architecture!” and finished the construction without ever looking at the general character of Safranbolu.

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Laws and the state's oversight mechanisms exist so that everything is done according to certain rules, fairly, within the law, and for the benefit of the public, and they bind everyone.

This is not something newly invented in this world; written laws have existed for thousands of years.

Therefore, no citizen can stand up and impose, “To hell with the law!”

No contractor has the right to say, “To hell with the architecture!”—not even if the municipality grants permission. Ultimately, as even Atatürk clearly stated, some may be “in a state of negligence, error, or even treason.”

Years ago in Istanbul, we experienced the Park Hotel disaster; the contractor who paid the money built the Park Hotel like a giant fortress in one of the most prime locations in Istanbul, incorporating the street into the foundation and adding 17 extra floors. Fortunately, with the uprising of the public and the mayor of the time, Nurettin Sözen, exactly 17 floors of this hotel were demolished one by one.

But you might say that during the same years, the Gökkafes was also built in Istanbul, and despite the current President's persistent protests and objections like “I will not go there,” the building still stands tall.

You are right, too.