The Council of State, Turkey's supreme administrative court, adopted a motion for a stay of execution for the urgent expropriation decision of the Council of Ministers regarding private lands located within Istanbul's third airport construction area. This decision does not affect the ongoing construction of the project. The General Board of Administrative Law Chambers ruled the justifications necessary for urgent expropriation, such as homeland defense, are not present. The board will later announce its ruling on merits regarding the Cabinet's decision. The case was first brought to court by the Istanbul Bar Association on behalf of the citizens of Ağaçlı village, which is located on the eastern end of the third airport project, who sought the suspension of the expropriation decision. The Council of State's Sixth Chamber ruled against the Bar Association's request, however, which was appealed to the General Board.

When all phases are completed, Istanbul's third airport will be the world's largest airport with an annual capacity of 150 million passengers.