15.01.2026 18:40
Tension arose during the January City Council Meeting of the Metropolitan Municipality, where the zoning plan for the Yeşiltepe neighborhood in Eskişehir was discussed, due to the exclusion of local residents. In the municipality building, where voices were raised, citizens had to watch the meeting concerning their neighborhood live on their mobile phones.
The zoning plan for the Yeşiltepe Neighborhood, which is being discussed in the Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Council, has recently been on the public agenda.
RESIDENTS WERE NOT ADMITTED TO THE COUNCIL, TENSION ROSE
Recently, neighborhood residents who went to observe the Council expressed their reaction by saying they were not included in the process and were not allowed into the January Council Meeting of the Metropolitan Municipality held today. As a result, voices were raised inside the municipal building, and tension arose.
CLAIM THAT "THE CHAIRS IN THE HALL WERE REMOVED"
Citizens who claimed that municipal officials removed the chairs in the meeting room to prevent them from entering and stated that they waited for hours with the elderly expressed their reaction by saying they had to follow the live broadcast of the meeting discussing their neighborhood on their mobile phones.
"WE WANT TO LISTEN THERE WHILE YEŞİLTEPE IS DISCUSSED"
Neighborhood resident Halil İbrahim Arslan, expressing his reaction, said, "We want to listen there while Yeşiltepe is being discussed. We took notes, we have our documents, and we want to show them and defend our rights. While there is zoning for our neighborhood, they are drawing zoning on top of zoning. You professors, doctors, and high civil engineers should come; we are high school and middle school graduates. We say, 'Let's have an open session with neighborhood representatives, convince us,' but you don't come to that either. For God's sake, what is this? We say, 'Put a ballot box,' and you don't do that either. They talk from behind televisions and cameras. Shame on you," he said.
"DECISIONS ARE BEING MADE ABOUT OUR NEIGHBORHOOD AND WE ARE WATCHING IT LIVE"
İzem Sevim, who followed the meeting through a live broadcast on her mobile phone, said: "We want to maintain our existing zoning as it is. We do not want this zoning in any way. They did not ask us, they did not take our opinion. They see our houses as illegal constructions. If that is the case, why are we paying for household natural gas, electricity, and taxes on water? Why did they take the newly introduced solid waste tax from us? Decisions are being made about Yeşiltepe, and we are watching it live. We are not in the council while decisions are being made about our neighborhood."