“Environment Law” was adopted in Turkey in 1983 after the concept was included in the Constitution. Environmental affairs were carried out by an “Undersecretariat” until the “Ministry of Environment” was established in 1991. The Ministry was reorganised as the “Ministry of Environment and Forestry”, but following another structural change, it currently functions as “Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation”. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) legislation was drafted in 1997. The regulation, which has been amended 20 times in total in the last 18 years, has deviated gradually from its purpose of preserving the ecosystem. In addition to this, another problem has been the tremendous increase in abstaining from the EIA process by means of specific decisions. The regulations drafted are far from realising the principle of “sustainable life” and lack “watershed based and cumulative” assessment capability in technical terms. The concepts of social, health and cultural impact assessment are not even mentioned. This paper issues a statement on environmental impact assessment law in Turkey.
Dealing with the cultural heritage aspect of environmental impact assessment in Europe
