A newly uncovered document has proven the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) turned a blind eye to the illegal construction of a Russian oligarch-owned villa on the Bosporus, according to a report in the Turkish newspaper Sabah.
The IBB has been under fire since the scandalous news broke last week that it allowed illegal construction atop the verdant hills of Istanbul’s two high-profile districts overlooking the Bosporus, one in the European Sarıyer district, said to belong to Halk TV owner Cafer Mahiroğlu, and another in the Asian-side Üsküdar district’s Vaniköy neighborhood.
Sabah’s report said Russian oligarch Boris Borisenko, a representative of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in Türkiye, secured the IBB's green light with a “simple repair permit” for the illegal villa in Vaniköy.
Borisenko went to the IBB's Bosporus Planning Department on March 22, 2023, to avoid getting a license from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Sabah wrote.
He claimed he would paint the interior walls, repair the tiles and floorboards, as well as the kitchen, bathrooms and electrical, natural gas and plumbing systems of the Vaniköy villa and the planning department issued him the simple repair permit on April 5, 2024, a photograph of the permit confirms.
The Russian billionaire then constructed seven separate buildings on the site between October 2023 and April 2024, cutting down over 100 trees, including mature beech trees.
Moreover, IBB officials conducted weekly audits on site but did not intervene with the illegal constructions, Sabah said.
After the scandal broke out last week, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change teams, escorted by police officers after construction workers blocked their path, inspected the villa site and found unauthorized construction activities.
Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum said his office would start a legal process if the IBB ignored its written request to demolish the illegal additions to the construction.
The construction has since been sealed off with a halt order and IBB said it informed the ministry, but the Justice Ministry has confirmed an investigation was already underway regarding the illegal construction.
IBB cited the simple repair permit in its defense, arguing the work exceeded the scope of this permit.
According to the municipality’s statement, the site in Vaniköy contained two reinforced concrete buildings with four independent sections each, all of which had valid occupancy permits. Previous structures on the parcel were demolished, and the new construction sought repair and renovation permits from IBB.
After the inspections, IBB issued a simple repair permit. However, subsequent inspections revealed that some activities went beyond the scope of the permit and were conducted without a strengthening license.
Previously, IBB faced backlash for overlooking an illegal villa construction in a forested area owned by crime boss Adnan Oktar, which had been reportedly sold to "a Russian businessman."
Imamoğlu has been facing an onslaught of criticism for “bearing the responsibility” of the construction. Some have also accused the mayor of allowing Borisenko to build his villa in exchange for funding his trip to Paris during the Olympics earlier this summer, although there is no such evidence.
