Chambers and environmental organizations reacted to the rejection of the Council of State's request for a stay of execution regarding the Çeşme Project.
Evaluating the rejection of the Council of State's request for a stay of execution regarding the Çeşme Project, which is defined as İzmir's 'Canal Istanbul', professional chambers and environmental organizations held a press conference and called the Council of State Administrative Case Departments for the future of the Çeşme Peninsula.
The joint statement made by Izmir Bar Association, TMMOB Izmir Provincial Coordination Board, Izmir Chamber of Medicine, Aegean Environment and Culture Platform (EGECEP) is as follows:
CALL FOR THE FUTURE OF THE ÇESME PENINSULA TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE LEGAL DIVISIONS
As it is known, the President had published in the Official Gazette dated 12.02.2020, regarding the redefinition of the boundaries of the İzmir Çeşme Culture and Tourism Conservation and Development Zone.
The President's decision includes all of the areas under the sovereignty and possession of the current state in the Çeşme Peninsula, 47 km of coastal area, 4.000 hectares of sea areas in the north and south of the peninsula, and five islands in these areas, 5.000 hectares of forest areas, all drinking water protection basins, all natural protection areas in the region. It covers a huge public land of 70 hectares, 16.000 percent of which includes qualified agricultural areas, olive groves, cultural and archaeological heritage areas, and all areas outside the settlement areas of the peninsula. The construction and population density that this decision will create will have important consequences on the limited water resources and inadequate infrastructure of the region. We have filed a lawsuit for the cancellation of this plundering project for our public responsibility, which is our reason for existence, and for the future of the Çeşme Peninsula.
In the midst of many social and political debates, we pursued our case without compromising our scientific truth and our pro-public stance. At the end of the discovery and expert examination made on the spot on October 27, 2021, the most important stage of the trial, a comprehensive expert report of 190 pages was presented.
In the report of the expert committee dated March 25, 2022, the delegation of experts unanimously stated that “… By taking into account the whole of the KTKGB area, the border decision, which will lead to the opening of tourism uses and therefore construction, as well as the conservation areas with the addition of the case; Considering the negative effects it will have on agricultural and forest areas, natural values (flora, fauna, ecosystems), water resources and cultural heritage, it was concluded that it is not in accordance with planning principles and public interest.
In this way, the justification of our case was scientifically proven. After this stage, the legal thing to do was to either suspend the execution of the President's decision, which would lead to destruction, or to annul it on its merits, since the file had matured. But it didn't.
The Sixth Chamber of the Council of State rejected our request for stay of execution with the decision of UNREASONABLE, with the majority of votes dated 15.06.2022 and numbered 2020/3285 E. Our lawyers objected to the decision on 13 July 2022. In fact, the dissenting vote of Deputy Chairman Ahmet Arslan, who personally participated in the discovery that the decision was unlawful, explains very well. Mr. Arslan states the following in his dissenting vote; “In dispute; In summary, in the expert report prepared as a result of the on-site discovery and expert examination on 27.10.2021; Taking into account the whole of the Culture and Tourism Conservation and Development Zone area, the border decision, which will lead to tourism uses and therefore construction, with the addition of the lawsuit, agricultural and forest areas, natural values, (flora, fauna, ecosystems) water Considering the negative effects it will have on the resources and cultural heritage, it has been determined that it is not suitable for the public interest. As the information and documents in the file and the expert report are evaluated together, the execution of the President's decision dated 11/02/2020 and numbered 2103 should be stopped.
The “İzmir Çeşme Culture and Tourism Conservation and Development Zone”, whose illegality is fixed with the expert report, is also one of the important agendas of politics. In a state of law, of course, the determinant should be the law, but this was not the case. When we consider the existing Presidential regime, the first thing that comes to our mind is "Is there an intervention in the judiciary".
We, the plaintiffs, who are in favor of the rule of law and the rule of law, expect the Council of State Administrative Litigation Chambers to repeal this unlawful decision. We demand a stay of execution on this unlawful decision, which will cause ecological destruction on the Çeşme Peninsula, will result in the destruction of the peninsula and the destruction of its resources with short-term constructions, and will turn the Çeşme peninsula into an uninhabitable state.
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