An Istanbul administrative court has unanimously overturned a lower court’s stay of order ruling on planned construction on Istanbul’s Gezi Park, allowing the demolition of the green space to resume ahead of the subsequent mall construction.

The Istanbul First Regional Court had ruled June 6 to order a stay of execution in the case of the Taksim Gezi Park Protection and Beautification Association versus the Culture and Tourism Ministry, stopping the demolition amid countrywide protests.

The ministry appealed the verdict, prompting the Istanbul Sixth Administrative Court to lift the legal obstacles preventing Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality from demolishing Gezi Park until the State Council gave its final verdict on the matter.

The recent overturn allows construction to proceed even before the State Council finalizes its decision on the park.

The Gezi Park protests, which started May 27 as a passive resistance movement against the rebuilding of Ottoman artillery barracks, including the building of a mall on the last green space left in downtown Istanbul.

The mall plans sparked protests from a small group, which soon turned into countrywide anti-government protests following a severe police crackdown. Government officials, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, soon backed down from the planned mall construction.

Erdoğan had even said that the government would be willing to go to the ballots over the future of the park.

Four protesters have died due to harsh police interventions during the protests. A Police officer also died after falling from a bridge while pursuing fleeing protesters in Adana.

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet