Students Continue ‘Profit Road’ Protest at METU as Excavator Is Allegedly Driven Toward Them

Students opposing Ankara’s planned Bilkent-İncek road said a vehicle belonging to Ankara Metropolitan Municipality was driven toward them as they maintained a protest vigil at the project site.

The students gathered for a second day in METU Forest and issued a statement against the project, known locally as the “Profit Road.” They argued that the road would not solve Ankara’s transport problems, while posing a serious ecological threat to the forest. Despite what they described as the intervention, they remained at the site.

The protesters said the project had expanded over the years alongside construction and expectations of commercial gain. They claimed it was initially presented as a way to increase the value of a residence complex with 400 apartments, but had since become part of a development area covering 12,000 apartments. They described METU Forest as one of Ankara’s important ecological areas and called for its protection.

Students also said police intervention and threats had been used to obstruct their campaign. They criticized decisions being made without consulting students or Ankara residents and called on unions, professional associations, civil society groups and other democratic organizations to support the protest. “The people who will decide whether this road is built are not appointed officials signing papers behind closed doors, but METU’s students and the residents of Ankara,” they said.

The Bilkent-İncek Boulevard ring-road connection was first raised in 2017, during Melih Gökçek’s tenure as Ankara mayor. Student and professional groups protested the plan, and Ankara’s Ninth Administrative Court suspended implementation of the related plans after a case brought by the Ankara branch of the Chamber of City Planners. The project was shelved after Gökçek’s resignation, but the municipality under Mansur Yavaş reopened the tender in 2021. Work stopped after protests when municipal machinery entered the forest in 2022. Students resumed their vigil after municipal teams returned to the project area last week.

“

The people who will decide whether this road is built are not appointed officials signing papers behind closed doors, but METU’s students and the residents of Ankara.