Turkey: For Historic Istanbul Terminal, Has the Development Train Left the Station?

In the previous post, I linked to a recent National Public Radio piece about Istanbul's rapid development and how that growth is causing concerns among preservationists worried about seeing the city's historical structures vanish or "transformed" into something unrecognizable.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipal Council approved a zoning scheme to transform an area of nearly 1 million-square-meters into the Haydarpaşa Port, a prospective center for culture, tourism and commerce, despite criticism from some quarters.

The area in question also includes the historic Haydarpaşa Train Station, the roof of which was partially burned in a fire last November.

Once the scheme is implemented, the entrance floor of the station will continue to serve as a railway terminal, but its upper stories will host the offices of the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) as well as a museum, exhibition and concert halls and accomodation facilities for tourists.

The United Trade Union of Transport Employees (BTS), however, has objected to the scheme on the grounds that it runs counter to both national and international norms of conservation, opting for commercialism rather than protection.