The Turkish government has come under fire since the release of a video showing workers demolishing a historic monument with a jackhammer. This is the Galata Tower, an iconic monument of Istanbul built in the 14th century.
The footage, filmed with a phone and shared by Istanbul Municipality on Wednesday, shows two workers digging a wall with a jackhammer inside the tower. "Such a way of proceeding is insane", reacted the director of the Department of the cultural heritage to the town hall, denouncing an "act of vandalism in one of the most important monuments" of the capital.
İstanbul'un en önemli tarihi eserlerinden Galata Kulesi içerisinde yapılan akıl almaz uygulamaları acilen yetkili kurumların dikkatine sunuyorum.
Suç niteliğinde uygulamaların derhal durdurulması ve tespiti için İBB Kültür Varlıkları Dairesi birimleri olay yerine nakledilmiştir. pic.twitter.com/VVQ2n9MJR2
An important tourist spot
Istanbul Municipality said a complaint had been filed. The Minister of Culture and Tourism, in charge of the tower restoration project, was forced to react. These allegations "are unfounded," Minister Nuri Ersoy said on Twitter, saying that the demolished walls were not part of the original construction and had been "added later".
Regarding the methods used for this restoration, "sanctions have been taken" against those responsible for the site, he added. Erected in 1348, the Galata Tower was used by the military to monitor maritime traffic before serving as an observation post to report fires. It offers a panoramic view of the capital and attracts many tourists every year. The monument is set to reopen to visitors on September 15.
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