İstanbul Municipality faces resistance as it demolishes illegal cafes on Bosphorus shoreline

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The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) continues its campaign to dismantle illegal cafes along the picturesque shoreline of Üsküdar, situated on the Asian-side banks of the Bosphorus.

The IMM teams encountered fierce opposition when attempting to demolish one of the unauthorized cafes, resulting in a physical altercation where Ramazan Gülten, the head of urban planning at the municipality, was assaulted, Halk TV reported.

"The cafe owners are still present, maintaining their stance. Although there was a court order temporarily suspending the demolition, it has since been lifted," said Halk TV correspondent Dilan Alp.

"In response, the IMM teams took action. We were informed by the IMM that the completion of administrative procedures at the district governorship is required before the demolition process can resume."

Expressing his strong condemnation of the attack in Üsküdar, Buğra Gökçe, deputy secretary-general of the municipality, stated, "We absolutely reject this behavior!"

Mahir Polat, another deputy secretary-general, asserted that the assault on Gülten was premeditated, targeting him specifically in an act of lawlessness. Polat said, "We are witnessing a gang assault in İstanbul."

İstanbul’da eşkıya saldırısı ile karşı karşıyayız.

İBB, İstanbul’un ortasında hukuksuzca yapılmış kaçak yapılara karşı aylardır mücadele ediyor. Yaşanmadık hukuksuzluk kalmadı.

Bugün görevini yapan arkadaşımız, İBB İmar Müdürü Ramazan Gülten’e hedef gözetilerek planlı saldırı… pic.twitter.com/jyzEAtqClr

— Mahir Polat (@mhrpolat) May 30, 2023

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