The 6th Chamber of the Council of State overturned the decision of the Van 1st Administrative Court in the lawsuit filed to annul the "ÇED is not necessary" decision on the Zilan Valley HES (Hydroelectric Power Plant) project. The court, on the other hand, dismissed the appeal for a stay of execution yet again without even waiting for the expert's discovery.

On March 30, 2012, the Van Governorship Provincial Directorate of Environment and Urbanization concluded that an "Environmental Impact Assessment (ÇED) is not necessary" for the ‘Zilan regulator and HES project’ planned by Zilan Electricity Production Corporation at the scene of the massacre in Zilan Valley. Following this, Gökakım Electricity Production Inc. began building the HES project in 2014. At the time, certain people of the region and non-governmental organizations petitioned the Council of State, and the HES construction was halted.

In response to the reactions, the Council of Ministers decided to expropriate the lands where the HES will be built. Even though the case was taken to court, the corporation took advantage of the coronavirus pandemic and resumed construction. With the Presidency's decision last year, a decision of "immediate expropriation" for some immovable properties in the region was made. Some individuals petitioned the Van 1st Administrative Court with the conclusion "ÇED is not required," requesting a stay of execution and the cancellation of the project. In a letter sent to the court, the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization defended the expropriation decision and the determination that "ÇED is not required", arguing that "there are no problems."

Following the submission of papers by the defendant Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, the court decided on 22 October 2020 to dismiss the action on the basis that "the plaintiff did not dwell in the project area." Following that, an appeal was lodged to the Council of State's 6th Chamber. The application was reviewed by the 6th Chamber of the Council of State, which found that the Administrative Court's decision to "deny the license" was reversed. Following the Council of State's ruling, the case file was sent to the Van 1st Administrative Court for consideration on the merits. On August 10, the court rejected the appeal for a stay of execution. In its decision, the Court stated that the “Council of State and Administrative courts may decide to stay the execution by giving a justification after the defense of the defendant authority has been received or the defense period has expired, if the administrative action is implemented, irreparable or impossible damages occur, and the administrative action is clearly justified.” Following an inspection of the file, it was determined that the circumstances indicated in the aforementioned law did not occur concurrently, hence the request for a stay of execution was rejected.”

In response to the judgment, Zilan Platform Spokesperson Şahabettin Demir stated that the case will not be dropped and remarked that, "The purpose here is not only the construction of a HES, they want to make a memory, a slaughter be forgotten, but what happened in Zilan will never be forgotten." Demir remarked that the court's decision was quite predictable and they were not surprised, adding, “With HES, they seek to turn our nature into a commercial and military base. The development of HES in Zilan, where hundreds of people were killed, is extremely thought-provoking. They have an influence over the courts. We'll keep our eyes on them."