Erdogan rejects criticism against Istanbul opera house

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday a new opera house being built at Taksim Square in Istanbul will be completed as planned by 2019 despite criticism from architects' union.

Speaking at the Urbanization Forum event at the presidential complex in capital Ankara, Erdogan refuted criticism of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects' over the construction of the new Ataturk Cultural Center, also known as AKM, at Taksim.

"We introduced the AKM project in Istanbul, the next day the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects made an immediate appeal [against it].

“What have you done up till today? Tell us. Appeal wherever you want, but know that 2019 will be the completion year of the great opera house of Istanbul's Ataturk Cultural Center."

He also criticized urbanization in Turkey, saying quality-based understanding rather than quantity must be dominant in such projects.

"Cities today do not give peace to a person.

"Currently, if you are looking for area, you will find it at cemeteries and nowhere else. We are experiencing these kinds of problems."