Istanbul’s Disneyfication
On June 30, the Hurriyet daily posted a story titled “Putting Breaks on Tarlabasi,” announcing that the decision of the Council of State (Danistay, the highest administrative court) on the Urban Transformation Project of Tarlabasi was guilty of “not serving [the] public good” and should be halted. This decision could set a precedent for several other mega urban transformation projects of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) era. Yet on July 2, pro-AKP newspapers published news with the photo of Ahmet Misbah Demircan, mayor of Beyoglu district, denying the news. Demircan told the press, “All court cases against the project have resulted in our favor. The urbanization project of Tarlabasi continues full speed.”
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