President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the first phase of the new Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine complex in Istanbul and the collective opening of 16 education and dormitory buildings at Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa.
Speaking at the ceremony held on the university’s campus, Erdoğan highlighted the scale of the new medical project while criticizing failed urban policies by Istanbul’s municipal administration after 2019.
“After 2019, what happened? What happened to Istanbul also happened to the protocol. It became a victim of a politics of not laying foundations, not doing work and producing excuses,” referring to the failed projects of former Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu.
After the elections, it emerged that road construction works linking Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital in Istanbul’s Kayaşehir district had been halted by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB), a development that had become a source of political controversy.
Although the hospital’s construction had reached around 90% completion, the road projects intended to connect the facility to surrounding transportation networks were first slowed and later stopped altogether by the municipality. The suspension of the construction work caused difficulties for residents of Başakşehir and Kayaşehir, who were affected by the incomplete access routes to the hospital.
The project was later taken over by the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry, which resumed the work on the remaining road sections.
The president said the restoration of the Cerrahpaşa Medical History Museum, which houses more than 40,000 artifacts from the Ottoman and Republican eras, had been completed in 2019 under a protocol signed during the tenure of former Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş.
“Those who constantly mention the name of Atatürk when it comes to politics did not protect the legacy of Mustafa Kemal or the medical history museum,” Erdoğan said.
He also noted that archaeological excavations conducted in the area, which lies within an archaeological site, uncovered thousands of artifacts that were added to Istanbul’s cultural heritage.
During the event, Erdoğan announced the start of construction for the first phase of the new Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine facilities while inaugurating 16 newly completed buildings, including education and dormitory structures.
Once completed, the project will create a modern medical campus with a total indoor area of approximately 650,000 square meters, Erdoğan said.
The complex is planned to include 900 hospital beds, including 150 intensive care units, 40 operating rooms, a closed parking facility with capacity for 3,000 vehicles and a helicopter landing pad.
Erdoğan said the hospital buildings would be equipped with seismic isolators to ensure earthquake resistance, emphasizing the importance of resilient infrastructure in earthquake-prone Istanbul.
The president also congratulated health care professionals ahead of Türkiye’s upcoming Medical Day on March 14.
