Land of Private high school declared green space


Date posted: June 16, 2014

ISTANBUL
The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) recently declared a piece of land on which a private high school had been being built to be a green space, according to representatives from the school who spoke to Today’s Zaman on Sunday.

The high school is a branch of Fatih Koleji, a private institution affiliated with the Hizmet movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. According to the school representatives, the municipality is also planning to build an underground parking lot and public earthquake evacuation area on the land, which is located in the Karadeniz neighborhood of Gaziosmanpaşa district.

The land had initially been zoned for the construction of a private school in 2004. The Gaziosmanpaşa Municipality applied to the İBB city planning office on June 6th to redesignate the area as a green space, a motion which was accepted by the İBB on Friday.

According to representatives from Fetih Eğitim İşlemeleri (Fetih Educational Operations), the firm that runs Fatih Koleji, the Gaziosmanpaşa Municipality had sold the land in question to the firm in 2009 for TL 5.2 million, the highest bid in the tender. Construction began on the private high school but was halted in April by the municipal authorities.

The redesignation of this particular piece of land has raised suspicions that it is an attempt to punish the Hizmet movement. A former ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the Hizmet movement emerged as a critic of the government after the latter moved to close down university preparatory schools nationwide, a large segment of which are owned and operated by people associated with the movement.

Source: Todays Zaman , June 15, 2014


Related News

For Turkish exiles in New Hampshire: No way back

A Turkish family of four has settled in New Hampshire, fleeing a crackdown in their homeland that has led to the arrests of thousands of civil servants. They can’t go home but they can’t stay here forever; the tourist visas that brought them here will expire. So they wait, and they worry.

Overwhelming public response in support of Bank Asya

Solidarity campaigns against the Banking Regulation Supervision Agency’s (BDDK) decision to have the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) temporarily take over the management of Bank Asya have been springing up across the nation.

Turkish schools in Thailand celebrate 17th commencement

The Turkish schools run by Marmara Educational Institutions in Thailand said goodbye to their 17th graduates at a rapturous ceremony. The scenes in the ceremony also stirred feelings I the guests.

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen gives first TV interview in 16 years

Responding to widespread assumptions that he ordered his followers in senior positions in the police and judiciary to launch the investigations into alleged high-level government corruption, Gülen issued strong denials of such claims. He said the reactions of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which have included the sacking a number of police commissioners and the arrest of some of Erdoğan’s allies, were “anti-democratic.”

HAPPENING NOW: Police await outside hospital to detain woman who just gave birth

A group of police officers awaited outside of the Alanya Başkent Hospital in order to detain a woman who gave birth several hours ago, according to a tweet by former deputy Feyzi İşbaşaran. Fadime Günay, whose husband has recently been detained by police over alleged links to the Gulen movement, gave birth to a boy late on Sunday.

Police raid successful Gülen-inspired schools in western Turkey

Just after another Gülen-inspired school was raided by the police in the southern province of Gaziantep on Monday, private schools established by the volunteers from the Hizmet Movement were raided in the western province of İzmir on Tuesday morning.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Kerry: Turkish President’s Insinuation of US Role in Attempted Coup is ‘Harmful to Our Bilateral Relations’

Fethullah Gulen Condemns Terrorist Attack in Nairobi, Kenya

Fate of Pak-Turk Schools: Erdogan, Jamaat-e-Islami-backed Maa’rif Foundation?

Islamic scholar Gülen says Turkey’s graft scandal can’t be covered up

Turkish trade’s center of gravity shifting in TUSKON bridges

Pakistan admits they secretly deported Turkish family wanted by Erdogan govt

Turkey’s Erdogan and onslaughts against opposition

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News