Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyercalled for the Cesme Tourism Project, which threatens 16 thousand hectares of natural area, to be abandoned. Stating that there are 11 tourism regions in Çeşme and their capacity is not even around 15 percent, the President Tunç Soyeraddressed to Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Minister of Culture and Tourism. Soyer said, “One of İzmir's top priority projects is the Kemeraltı UNESCO Project. Let's mobilize all our resources for this. Here I am calling for dialogue. Give up the Cesme Tourism Project, which is the Izmir version of the Kanal Istanbul Project," he said.
Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyerattended the press conference held on the developments in the cases of Cesme Tourism Area Expansion and the cancellation of the natural site decision. In addition to Mayor Soyer, Cesme Mayor Ekrem Oran, Izmir Chamber of Architects President Ilker Kahraman, Izmir Bar Association President Sefa Yilmaz, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary General Suphi Şahin, members of the Aegean Environment and Culture Platform, lawyers and the meeting held at Izmir Architecture Center were held at the Izmir Architecture Center. citizens participated.
Soyer: “We believe with all our hearts that they will protect the rights of İzmir”
Speaking on the latest legal developments at the meeting, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer“The incident has two legal grounds. One of them is a decision taken regarding the continuation of the project related to Çeşme Tourism Region. And the decision taken regarding the SIT regions. There are two conflicting resolutions. We think that the law will definitely do what is necessary for the future. We trust our bar, our lawyers. We believe with all our hearts that Izmir will protect the rights of the people of Izmir and will protect the future of Izmir.”
Dialogue call
Calling on the Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the President Tunç Soyer“I want to make a call for dialogue, a call for cooperation. This project has been described by different names by many circles, but at the end of the word, the people of Izmir do not want this project, the boards of Izmir do not want it. Professional chambers of Izmir do not want, nobody does in Izmir. There are many reasons. I want to say one of them. There are 11 tourism regions in Çeşme. Their capacity is not around 15 percent. There is a great need, but there is no such thing as we are doing this project because of the table that will fulfill its requirements. We all know very well what the destruction will be caused by declaring a huge area of 16 thousand hectares as a tourism region. My request from our Honorable Minister and the bureaucracy of the ministry is this: Come; İzmir has high priority projects and targets. There is the Kemeraltı UNESCO Project. Let's mobilize all our resources. We can make Kemeraltı one of the most beautiful open-air shopping centers in the world. We can turn Kemeraltı into a place to live 24 hours a day, with its Street Rehabilitation Project, infrastructure, lighting, touristic facilities and everything else. We are ready to cooperate with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Here I am calling for dialogue. Like the Cesme Project, we actually call it the Izmir version of the Istanbul Canal project. Give up on this, Mr. Minister and very valuable bureaucrats of our ministry," he said.
Yılmaz, “The unlawfulness does not end”
Reminding that it is World Environment Day in his speech, İzmir Bar Association President Sefa Yılmaz said, “On 24 May, the parties notified the decision regarding the rejection of the case. Not a day goes by that the unlawfulness does not end. When we start each day, we wonder what kind of unlawfulness we will encounter today. The violence directed against non-governmental organizations that wanted to make a statement in front of the Izmir Bar Association on Friday was also directed at the Izmir Bar Association," he said. Yılmaz then read a joint statement. In the text, “The proceedings carried out for such a large area in our country must be stopped by acting responsibly, in line with court decisions and expert reports, in order not to cause a significant public loss. According to Article 2577/50 of the Law No. 5; It is obligatory to comply with the decisions of the Council of State Administrative and Tax Litigation Chambers (DIDDK). It is clear that the decision of the 6th Chamber of the Council of State will be overturned by DIDDK, as there has been no material and legal change that will change the decision of stay of execution pursuant to this commanding provision of the law. DIDDK's stay of execution decision was annulled with the decision of the 6th Chamber of the Council of State to reject the case. This should not be seen as an opportunity and fait accomplis that will cause irreparable damage on the Peninsula should not be created, and no new actions or actions should be taken until a decision is made about our appeal. We respectfully announce to the people of our country, İzmir, Çeşme and Urla, the press, institutions, and relevant government departments.
What happened?
The lawsuit filed for the stay of execution for the redefinition of the boundaries of the İzmir Çeşme Culture and Tourism Conservation and Development Zone with the Presidential Decree was canceled by the 6th Chamber of the Council of State. In the lawsuit filed for the annulment of the SİT change, İzmir 2nd Administrative Court decided to stay the execution in order to lower the SİT grade in a part of the region in line with the expert decisions. Regarding the other part, he rejected the stay of execution decision.