Erdogan: Istanbul's new opera house to open in 2019

By Nilay Kar Onum, Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) – An iconic opera house in Istanbul's teeming Taksim Square will be rebuilt anew and open in the first quarter of 2019, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday.

Speaking at Halic Congress Center, Erdogan said the new Ataturk Cultural Center, known by its Turkish initials AKM, would be a “symbolic” site of Istanbul.

Expressing regret over delays in beginning construction of the new AKM building, he said: “Turkey is able to start a business today that needs to be done 10 years ago.”

The Ataturk Cultural Center, which was designed as a theater building, was built in 1946 by French architect Auguste Perret.

The building was destroyed when a fire broke out during a play in 1970. It was reopened in 1977.

Turkey registered the center as an “urban protected area” in 1993. It was declared a protected cultural landmark in 1999.

In 2007, a report from Turkey’s Sakarya University stipulated that the building needed to be renovated.

Plans for a reconstruction were eventually scrapped due to a Turkish court decision. The tender for the reconstruction, which had been issued by the Culture Ministry, was then halted in 2013.