The construction of the Külliye (the new presidential palace complex), is illegal, former chairman of the Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Engineers and Architects, Seran Aysal has said, Yeniduzen reports.
“This construction is illegal. It is a legal obligation for the City Planning Department, Nicosia Turkish Municipality, Construction Committee and Labour Department to intervene immediately in this illegality. Authorities who do not interfere and turn a blind eye to this will be committing a crime“, he said.
He dismissed claims that the Külliye is a state project and therefore not subject to the usual planning laws. “For it to be a state project, all the processes of the project must go through the Planning and Construction Department. However, this project has nothing to do with it. Therefore, we cannot call this project a state project”, Aysal said.
Noting that construction of the complex is taking place on public land, he asked, “Who delivered this land to the relevant construction company? The Republic of Turkey does not have the authority to give a property here to someone else, to have work done. The embassy has no such authority. The Presidency, which is the symbolic authority that only has the authority to approve, does not have such a right“, said Aysal.
