Turkey’s ambassador to Malta has expressed grave concern about yet another planning application to turn a site adjacent to the Turkish military cemetery, in Marsa into an industrial garage complex.
“The construction of a massive block next to 19th-century architecture is completely incompatible with good urban design. It will overshadow the prominence and unique glory of the cemetery and destroy the visual integrity of the area,” Ambassador Kerem Ahmet Kiratli has said.
“It will risk serious physical damage that is hard, if not impossible, to repair.”
The application was filed last year by Mark Cassar and architect Stephen Farrugia. It has been recommended for approval by the Planning Authority (PA) case officer. The case is due to be heard on January 26.
In 2019, Cassar had filed a similar application to build 29 industrial garages for light industry, storage and aquaculture.
This application was later withdrawn.
Three years earlier, Cassar had applied to build a fuel station and car wash on the same site but this was also withdrawn.
The adjacent historic cemetery was built in 1873 and is considered one of the masterworks of Maltese architect Emmanuele Luigi Galizia, known for building the gothic façades of the Santa Maria Addolorata cemetery.
The Turkish cemetery is protected at Grade 1 level.
“This proposal will dwarf the architectural masterpiece of Emanuele Luigi Galizia,” the ambassador noted.
“It is a majestic monument of our common historical and cultural heritage as well as one of Malta’s most-visited tourist attractions.”
The cemetery was not only the final resting place of Turkish martyrs and Muslim nationals from other nations, it also symbolised the friendship between Malta and Turkey, Kiratli added.
The cemetery has already suffered unspecified damages unrelated to these planning applications, with parts of the masonry appearing to have given way.
The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has also expressed concern about the application, due to the “negative impact” it would have on the cemetery.
It advised a height of no more than one floor and a 10-metre buffer zone from the cemetery.