Entire island pillaged by Turkey's ruling party

The environmental destruction in Turkey's Yassıada island is a striking example of the AKP governments' great rent from city development plans
Wednesday, 15 November 2017 05:58

A social platform named 'In Defence of Islands' shared on November 14 a before-and-after photograph of Yassıada island located off the coast of İstanbul’s Asian side in the Marmara Sea. The photograph shows how the entire island had been pillaged by the ruling AKP government.

In April 2013, the ruling AKP government issued an omnibus bill that included special provisions regarding city development plans in two islands in Marmara sea, Yassıada and Sivriada. Yassıada, which had been used as a prison and a trial centre in 1960, was officially renamed "Democracy and Freedom Island" in November 2013. 

The Union of Chambers of Turkish Architects and Engineers (TMMOB) and the Association of Archaeologists shared a report with the public opinion. The report revealed that "the city development plan implemented in the island had irreversible consequences upon the natural and cultural life of the island".

The report reminded that Yassıada is one of the few places upon the flyways of birds that had remained uninhabited, and also the only spawning area and coral reef around İstanbul.

Turkey's ruling AKP party propagated that they intended to remove the traces of military jurisdictions over the administration of the pro-U.S., conservative Democrat Party in 1960 following the military coup of May 27, 1960. The current project aims to ensure that the would-be contractor operates the island for profit.

The island has many historical artefacts dating back to the Byzantine, Ottoman and early Republican periods, noted the report, adding that the implementation of the city development plan without any protection means the total destruction of this historical heritage. 

A protected historical area since 1976, Yassıada was further registered as a third-tier archaeological site in 2011, and then transferred to the Culture and Tourism Ministry. In 2012, the 'protected' area status of the Yassıada was abolished. In April 2013, new arrangements paved the way for the construction of recreational and tourist facilities there.