Turkey's highest administrative court, the Council of State (Danıştay), removed its ban on the Taksim redevelopment and pedestrianization project yesterday.
The sixth chamber of the Council of State overruled the ban of Istanbul's First Administrative Court, stating that a new team of experts should carry out inspections in the area and the final decision of Istanbul's Sixth Administrative Court to halt the project should be adjourned for a re-trial by the court.
Previously on April 2014, the Council of State approved the court's decision, dated June 2013. However, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality had earlier asked for a revision of the project, a method rarely used and only taken into consideration if the higher court makes a factual error.
The Council of State's decision revealed that Istanbul's Sixth Administrative Court rejected the demand to annul the reconstruction decision of former Taksim Artillery Barracks to the site that is now Gezi Park.
The Taksim redevelopment project continues to remain a sensitive issue. In May 2013, environmentalist protests opposing the redevelopment project and re-erection of the barracks transformed into nationwide anti-government riots, in which 11 people were killed and thousands were injured.
