I think there are a couple of reasons which work one for the other.
The first is the mentality of "conquest" that a part of the population (and the ruling party) share. Those people don't see byzantine-era artifacts as part of their history (unless it is a church converted to mosque). Many part of the ancient city have been left to rot and only with the latest (opposition-linked) administration some restoration work has started.
The second reason is corruption: big construction companies own a good amount of the turkish media and state sponsored projects are one way for the ruling party to thanks them for a pro-government information landscape. As such the state has little interest in blocking a construction project because some artefacts were found. As a bonus, whatever is found can be sold to smugglers
The first is the mentality of "conquest" that a part of the population (and the ruling party) share. Those people don't see byzantine-era artifacts as part of their history (unless it is a church converted to mosque). Many part of the ancient city have been left to rot and only with the latest (opposition-linked) administration some restoration work has started.
The second reason is corruption: big construction companies own a good amount of the turkish media and state sponsored projects are one way for the ruling party to thanks them for a pro-government information landscape. As such the state has little interest in blocking a construction project because some artefacts were found. As a bonus, whatever is found can be sold to smugglers