Istanbul municipality says will challenge Gezi Park transfer

ISTANBUL: Turkey has transferred ownership of Istanbul's Gezi Park, the focus of anti-government protests in 2013, to national from municipal ownership, drawing criticism from the opposition-run city which said it would challenge the decision.

The directorate for religious foundations, part of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said the area was being transferred to one of its foundations. Istanbul Municipality criticised what it said was a hasty decision by President Tayyip Erdogan's government which was taken "to stop a project to turn the square into a green an aesthetic area again".