Legal struggle for the public good

"You do not have the authority to file this lawsuit, there is no matter that has caused you any direct or indirect harm, why are you filing a lawsuit?"

The Chamber of Landscape Architects of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) shared much good news in August. The TMMOB Chamber of Landscape Architects closely monitors issues such as urban transformation and the evaluation of public spaces. They are actively challenging all decisions made by central, local, and other governments that disregard the public interest through legal means. The PMO won lawsuits filed by the Council of Ministers challenging urban transformation decisions in various districts of Ankara and the Düzce Municipal Council.

To prevent construction…
The Council of State's 6th Chamber has issued a stay of execution in lawsuits filed against the designation of various neighborhoods in the Çankaya, Mamak, Gölbaşı, and Etimesgut districts of Ankara as urban transformation and development project areas. The justification for requesting the annulment of these urban transformation and project area decisions was explained as "the failure to make site selections based on technical or scientific grounds, the disruption of the balance of publicly needed facilities, the failure to comply with the planned development history of Ankara, and the failure to consider the impact of the natural and ecological corridor within which it is located on the entirety of Ankara's urban landscape. Consequently, the decision was concluded to be contrary to urban planning principles, planning principles, plan technique, plan integrity, the public interest, and the city of Ankara's nearly century-old planning practice." Furthermore, the 14th Chamber of the Council of State has also annulled and upheld the lawsuit filed against the Council of Ministers' decision to designate an area in Ankara's Yeni Mahalle as the Atatürk Forest Farm Zoo renewal area. The justification for the lawsuit filed against the Council of Ministers' decision was to prevent construction on lands where no structures existed, and the Council of State found the PMO right.

The decision of the municipal council in Düzce center is even more serious!
The Düzce Municipal Council decided to redesignate two parks, including a commercial building, in the Uzunmustafa and Kültür neighborhoods as commercial and official spaces. The Zonguldak Regional Administrative Court annulled and upheld the lawsuit filed by the PMO against the municipal council's decision. These open green spaces serve as a rare opportunity for disaster gathering places and public green spaces in Düzce, a city located in an earthquake zone.

The striking feature of all the cases…
The lawsuits filed and their justifications are clear. However, the defenses presented by the defendants are quite striking and incomprehensible. In almost all defenses, the defendant begins with statements along the lines of, "You don't have the authority to file this lawsuit. There's nothing that directly or indirectly harmed you, so why are you filing a lawsuit?" In the Düzce case, a similar defense was developed, with the additional statement that "those areas aren't used as parks anyway." Yet, the municipality had rented out the public green space to tea shops, restaurants, and amusement parks, rendering it unusable. These are encouraging decisions in these times of diminished faith in the rule of law. Furthermore, these decisions demonstrate the importance of organized struggle for the public good.

For details of the news: Chamber of Landscape Architects