Istanbul's 560-year old Grand Bazaar holds first ever board election

Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, one of the oldest surviving shopping centers in the world, has a new president and board following the first elections in its nearly six-century history. 

The election over the weekend came at a time when the discussion over renovating the facility, a top tourism spot in the city, has heated up. 

The Grand Bazaar has been named the "most valuable spot" in Istanbul, with rent worth around $3,500 per square meter per month, a study by Turkey's Eva Real Estate Valuation Consultancy revealed in August last year. 

"The Grand Bazaar is one of the most characteristic and oldest bazaars of the world ? The Grand Bazaar has always been very popular for centuries, so the rents there are much higher than the rents in other districts," said Eva CEO Cansel Turgut Yaz?c?.

The bazaar boasts stores that sell many traditional goods, while it is also the heart of the gold market in the country.

Police forcefully evicted the renters of several shops inside the historic Grand Bazaar in April last year, just one day after detaining 20 shop owners who refused to leave the bazaar in protest at a renovation project. 

Some 80 shops inside the Sandal Bedesten section of the Grand Bazaar were evicted by riot police on April 22, 2015.

The last major restoration of the complex took place in 1980. Fatih Municipality and the businesses in the facility have been bargaining over a new and large restoration to both give the bazaar a facelift and renew parts that are at risk of collapse. 

Atilla Saraç, the head of an association that represents the tradespeople in the facility, told Hürriyet last month that they expected the restoration to start in January or February. The efforts could take up to five...