According to opponents of a bill passed in Parliament the new law grants excessive authority to metropolitan municipalities to damage natural areas and relocate residents in the name of implementing urban-development plans.

The bill expands the areas where metropolitan municipalities are allowed to implement urban transformation projects and grants them additional power to change cities’ existing construction plans and implement new urban-planning projects in any state-owned area.

Only areas used for education and health purposes will be excluded from the bill.

The opposition party CHP (Republican People’s Party) has already announced it will take the bill to the Constitutional Court for annulment, saying the law will pose a threat to all green and forested areas in the country if it is allowed to take effect.