The local impacts of Istanbul’s third airport are explored in Whose Land? Whose Villages? The Vanishing Settlements of Istanbul’s Northern Forests by Cihan Uzunçarşılı Baysal, published by Housing and Land Rights Network. Oral history research records the testimonies of residents of eight villages in Istanbul’s Northern Forests which have been affecteded by the megaproject: Ağaçlı, Yeniköy, Karaburun, Durusu, Balaban, Tayakadın, Baklalı and Dursunköy. Construction works including quarries, excavation, cement plants, sand mining and land reclamation ‘made everyday life unbearable’. Part of the the vast 7,650 hectare airport site was forest land seized by the state, supposedly for public purpose. About 13 million trees were felled. Fertile agricultural land, meadows, lakes, wetlands and a stretch of coastline were also destroyed to make way for the airport. Impacts on agriculture and livestock breeding, in particular water buffalo, have been devastating. One resident estimated that 500-600 water buffalos used to graze around Kulakçayır lake, its landfilled remains now lying underneath the runways. This report, with some of its interviews interrupted by the incessant noise of planes flying overhead, helps keep alive memories at risk of being buried along with the ecosystems.
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