Council of State has ruled: Validebağ Grove saved from exploitation!

The cancellation decision issued by the court in 2021 regarding the tender for the project that would have concretized Validebağ Grove, one of Istanbul's last green spaces, has been upheld by the Council of State.

During the period when Üsküdar Municipality was governed by the AKP, a tender for the "Grove Rehabilitation and Arrangement Construction Work" was held in 2021. A lawsuit was filed to cancel the tender on the grounds that the rehabilitation project would open the grove to construction, and a cancellation decision was issued by the Istanbul 11th Administrative Court in 2021. The decision was appealed by the Üsküdar municipal administration of the time. The Council of State rejected the appeal request and upheld the 11th Administrative Court's cancellation decision. The decision was taken unanimously on April 4, 2024.

Announcing the decision, the lawyer for the case, Onur Cingil, said, "The Council of State has upheld the decision that canceled the tender opening Validebağ Grove to plunder and ensured that this beautiful natural area remains a grove. The decision is final. With the tender held by the former AKP administration of Üsküdar Municipality, there would have been a 500-vehicle parking lot, meters of roads, and structures in the grove; concrete would have entered the grove, and natural life would have been ended. The decision to cancel this tender has been upheld by the Council of State. A 360-acre paradise, a 1st Degree Natural Protected Area, has been preserved for our future, for living creatures, for people, and for the residents of Üsküdar. It was not those who dumped 'rubble' into the grove, but those who have put in the effort for a quarter of a century who won. Validebağ was a grove, and it has remained a grove."

Good news for #Üsküdar
Good news for #Istanbul
Good news for #Turkey The COUNCIL OF STATE HAS UPHELD the decision that canceled the tender opening #ValidebağGrove to plunder and ensured that this beautiful natural area remains a grove. The decision is final.

The former AKP administration of Üsküdar Municipality… pic.twitter.com/LiVXIIc9Vu

— ONUR CİNGİL (@onurcingil) May 28, 2024

News Source: 12punto