Üsküdar Municipality

Istanbul’s Üsküdar Municipality has decided to halt the construction of a small mosque next to the Validebağ grove, after activists continued to brave inclement weather by camping out on the site to prevent the cutting down of the grove's trees.

Protesters demanding a halt of the construction of a small mosque next to a protected grove on the Asian side of Istanbul, in line with a court order, resorted to an unprecedented action on Oct. 27, in a bid to hamper the access of trucks and heavy duty vehicles to the site.  

Tensions over the construction of a small mosque next to the protected Validebağ grove on Istanbul’s Asian side are growing, after local activists opposed to the cutting down of trees staged a protest march on Oct. 25.

Tensions over the construction of a small mosque next to the protected Validebağ grove on Istanbul’s Asian side are growing, after local activists opposed to the cutting down of trees staged a protest march on Oct. 25.

The construction of a mosque in Istanbul’s Validebağ grove proceeded on Oct. 23 despite a court’s stay of execution order amid growing outcry among local activists, who have long denounced attempts to open one of Istanbul’s largest and last remaining green areas to construction.

Police officers took huge security measures as locals also gathered nearby to express their anger.

The cause of the flooding that created the surreal images in Istanbul was “a small tsunami,” the Üsküdar Municipality’s Press Advisory argued in a statement on June 3.