Thousands of people gathered in Istanbul on Sunday for the historic Emek Cinema which is a symbol of Istanbul intended to be demolished under the name of "urban renewal".

Police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the protestors who included Greek-French director Costa-Gavras, international filmmakers Mike Newell and Jan Ole Gerster, British director and BAFTA laureate Mike Newell, Chilean screenwriter and director Marco Bechis and German director Jan Ole Gerster.

Three people were reported detained and Turkish director Erden Kıral fainted during the brutal police attack which came after demonstrators started to march to the street of the Emek Cinema building which had already been blocked and denied access by police teams before the demonstration began.

It was reported that around 200 demonstrators gathered in front of Beyoğlu police department to demand the release of detainees.

In a statement on the police attack, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) condemned the“excessive force” used by the police against demonstrators, saying, “Protesting cinema lovers did nothing other than protect Istanbul’s cultural memory”.

Within the scope of the case that Chamber of Architects opened against the project that proposed the demolition of Emek Cinema, Istanbul 9th Administrative Court granted a motion for stay of execution on 12.05.2010 on the grounds that the projected construction plan “could cause irrecoverable damages in case of being realized”. However, the motion for stay of execution was removed by the same court on December 1.

Opened in the 1920′s, the baroque Emek Theater, also known as Melek, is one of the most beautiful cinemas in Turkey. The Emek Cinema is not the only symbol of Istanbul intended to be demolished under the name of "urban renewal". Many historical locations such as Serkildoryan are planned to be pulled down and replaced with convention and shopping centers and hotels.

Located in the historic Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, state owned 86 year old movie palace Emek is as old as the Republic of Turkey. It is not only the symbolic movie theater of Turkey or the host of International Istanbul Film Festival for the last 20 years but also one the few independent movie theaters left in Turkey where the market is dominated by two multiplex movie theater chains. Now officials of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality are talking about a shopping mall project that will includes restaurants, stores, a Madame Tussauds museum and 10 theaters. On the top of these they want to move Emek Theater.