One of the significant plants of Ottoman industrial and technological history, the Haliç / Golden Horn Arsenals (Imperial Dockyards) were founded in the 15th century, and the area also contains, significant remains from the Byzantine and early Ottoman periods, and some parts have preserved their function to this day.

In July 2013, the Government made a tender for the Istanbul Haliç Yacht Marina and Complex Project (Haliçport) which opened a historic site owned by the public and under legal protection to development by private initiative. This project poses a major threat against the natural and urban landscape, archeological, historical, cultural and naval heritage of the Golden Horn as well as the identity and integrity of the Arsenal and surrounding settlements.

Haliç Dayanışması (Golden Horn Solidarity) which came together after the announcement of the tender for the Haliçport Project, to protect the shipyards’ historic structures and advocate for its neighbors’ right to the city, consists of shipyard workers, trade unions, professional associations and their members, local communities and their associations, residents of the working-class neighborhoods around the site, architects, urban planners, and others. Haliç Solidarity proposes that as a public heritage site, the natural and cultural landscape of the Golden Horn, with its shipyards, archeological assets and historic urban fabric should be preserved with utmost care and transmitted into the future by enhancing its production-employment capacity. In this context, Golden Horn Solidarity has been organizing various activities, actions and establishing counter-hegemony since 2013.