A court in istanbul has overturned the controversial z gezi park development plans that sparked weeks of mass protests in turkey, according to media reports. The court had thus followed a request by the istanbul chamber of architects, among others, reported the "hurriyet daily news". The decision was made last month, but was not made public until wednesday.
The nationwide wave of protests in turkey at the end of may was sparked by the brutal clearing of a protest camp in gezi park. The government plans to rebuild an ottoman barracks there. Apartments, shops or a museum are to be built there. In the meantime, however, the demonstrations are directed primarily against the authoritarian style of government of prime minister recep tayyip erdogan.
The government has announced it will accept a court-ordered halt to construction in gezi park in istanbul’s central taksim square. It remained unclear whether the decision of the istanbul court, which was announced on wednesday, is final. Police had raided the park a second time in the middle of last month. Since then, he has been cordoned off by police and closed to the public. He became a symbol of resistance against erdogan.
Police violence during nationwide protests drew international criticism of the government, which vehemently rejected it. The police used trangas, water cannons and plastic bullets on a massive scale. Four demonstrators and a policeman were killed, thousands of people were injured. The dispute over the security forces’ actions is also putting a strain on turkey’s eu accession process.
Erdogan makes an "interest lobby" not defined by him closely responsible for the protests. He accuses the demonstrators of allowing themselves to be instrumentalized for the destruction of democracy and the economy in turkey. Istanbul was the scene of mass protests last weekend.