New Turkey wide Demolitions in the Name of Disaster Protection

 http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/25380523   text translated and links added by Cihan Baysal

''The Minister of Urban Affairs of Turkey has recently announced that the demolishments will start in October in 30 places simultaneously,  using dynamites in some .

The Minister of Urban Affairs, Bayraktar, declared that the agenda for the implementation of the Law on Areas Under Risk of Disasters has been materialized:

'' We will have a start which is going to cause reverberations. We are starting in October. In 30 or 40 different parts of Turkey, we will have demolishments'', stated Bayraktar. The prior cities will be Istanbul,Ankara,Izmir,Bursa,Kocaeli,Sakarya, Konya,Bolu and Van.

Upon the question of ''Do you experience any difficulty in social support?'', the Minister reflected that '' the people are very willing.We reached a dimension of voluntariness.Without getting tired,we explain to the people that they will be getting rid of their dilapidated  buildings under risk. Those who object to this, those who call it the 'transformation of rent/ profit' should come to me and tell me whom we are providing profit, I am expecting them to come''

Bayraktar stated that engineering studies are being made for demolishments that will take place in at least 30 cities. During the demolishments, alongside demolishing machines,explosion by  dynamite-a technique not familiar in Turkey- will also be used. Tests are being made in order not to cause any disasters via explosion by dynamite.It is notified that this technique will be used in places where the poplation is not dense. The Minister Bayraktar expressed that  because he did not like the word '' demolishment undertaker'' , they are looking for other words to coin the expression.

The financial portrait of demolishments hasn't been substantiated yet. The demolishments will give a start in October via 'ceremonies' and urban transformation is planned to be urgent in the first 2 years and scheduled to be finished in 5 stages in  3-5-7 and 10 year periods''.   

For the Law on Areas under risk of Disasters,please visit:http://direitoamoradia.org/?p=13059&lang=en

For the Minister's question on 'projects for rent/profit',

Please visit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/09/sulukule-roma-housing-row-istanbul?INTCMP=SRCH

and

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/01/istanbul-city-urban-renewal?INTCMP=SRCH

Suleymaniye: 

http://bianet.org/english/human-rights/137680-demolition-in-suleymaniye-with-announcement

And the Tarlabasi renewal Project with 100 square meter luxurious offices going for 800.000 dollars while a 5 storey building owned by a resident was expropriated for 761.000 TL ( 423.000 dollars)!.So, the legally owned property is transferred to firms and companies:   

''Million dollar offices for public good '': http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalDetayV3&ArticleID=1099694&CategoryID=80

News on Tarlabaşı from BIANET.ORG

http://www.bianet.org/bianet/toplum/136198-kirlangic-sokagin-son-sakinleri 

KENTSEL DÖNÜŞÜM

Kırlangıç Sokağın Son Sakinleri

Tarlabaşı'nda tüm komşuları giden Argiş ailesi, istemese de artık evi boşaltmak için mahkeme kararını bekliyor; çünkü sokak lambaları bile çalışmıyor.

Nilay VARDAR

nilay@bianet.org

İstanbul - BİA Haber Merkezi

16 Şubat 2012, Perşembe

Tarlabaşı'nda altı yıldır "kentsel dönüşüm" adı altında devam eden süreçte sokaklar bir bir boşalmaya devam ediyor.
Yıkılmayı bekleyen binaların çoğunun içleri çöp dolmuş; kapı, pencereleri sökülmüş. Pencereden sarkmış eski bir yorgan ya da duvarlara yazılı sözler, sokaklarda bir zamanlar yaşam olduğuna dair kalan son izler...
Küçükkırlangıç sokakta harap binaların arasında kalan Argiş ailesi de sokağın son sakinlerinden. Mardin'den 15 yıl önce İstanbul'a göç eden aile evi boşaltmak için bir türlü bitmek bilmeyen mahkeme sonucunu bekliyor.
Zar zor aldıkları 100 metrekarelik evleri için GAP inşaat 56 bin lira, ya da yeni projeden 51 metrekareye nerede olduğu belli olmayan bir ev teklif etti. Kabul etmeyince de "acil kamulaştırma" tehdidi ile "37 bin liraya düşürürüz" dedi.
Bahattin Argiş direnip dava açmış.
"Mahkemede biz onlara Demirören AVM için ödenen fiyatı emsal gösteriyoruz, onlar bize tehditle satın aldıkları evleri. Evlerini satan insanlar şimdi ağlıyor, içlerinde kalp krizi geçirenler var. Düşünebiliyor musunuz, üst komşunla aynı değerdeki evi korkundan satıyorsun, o ise dava açıp üç katına alıyor."

Mahkemede üç kata çıkıyor

İki yıldır mahkeme sonucunu bekliyor; şu anda evine 160 bin verilmesi planlanıyor. Yani ilk teklif edilenin üç katı.
Argiş mahkemenin fiyatı artırmasının mağduriyeti ortadan kaldırmadığını söylüyor; çünkü asıl mesele ailesiyle Tarlabaşı'nda yaşamaktan mutlu, işlerine yakın, komşuları vardı.
"İstanbul'a ilk geldiğimizde biz burada dostluklarımızı kurduk;  çocuklarım bu semtte büyüdü. İki oğlum ve ben Taksim'deki restaurantlarda çalışıyoruz, gece ikide işten çıkıyoruz, 10 dakikada evdeyiz.

Komşular gitti, çöpler kaldı

"Ama yok onlar bizi, Taksim'e layık görmediler. Şimdi o parayla aynı büyüklükte ve işime yakın ev bulmam imkansız. Her şeyden öte buraya alışmıştık, kahveye gittim mi 50 kişiyi tanırdım... "
Songül Argiş ne olacakları belli olmadığı için evlenme çağındaki iki oğlunu evlendiremediklerinden yakınıyor; bir de sokakların boşluğundan.
"Tüm komşular gitti, evlerin içi çöp içinde, kokudan geçilmiyor. Akşamları sokak lambası bile yanmıyor. Bu halde daha ne kadar kalabiliriz ki burada..."

Zincirci'ye verilen ev

Jirayr Zincirci de Tarlabaşı'nın en mağdurlarından biriydi; çünkü ne mülk sahibi ne de kiracıydı ama 30 yıllık Tarlabaşılıydı; iki ay önce küçücük odasından çıkarılmak isteniyordu.
bianet, Radikal ve Milliyet gazetesinin konuyu haber yapmasının üzerine, twitter üzerinden "jirayr amcaya ev" kampanyası başlatıldı. Bunun üzerine Beyoğlu Belediye Başkanı Misbah Demircan, Zincirci'ye ev verileceğini belirtti.
Haftasonu Zincirci, 30 yıllık minicik odasından ayrılıp, kız kardeşi ile birlikte Tarlabaşı'nda oturduğu yerin alt mahallesinden birinde minik bir eve yerleşti. Evinde ziyaret ettiğimiz Zincirci, kedilerini de yanına aldığında tamamen rahatlayacağını söyledi.

Diğer "Zincirci"ler?

Bizim haberi yaparken amacımız, acilen Zincirci'nin barınma hakkının karşılanması ama esasen Tarlabaşı'nda kentsel dönüşümün getirdiği mağduriyete dikkat çekmekti.
Demircan, bizzat devletin barınma hakkını hiçe sayarak yarattığı mağduriyeti giderdi. Şu an Zincirci memnun; peki diğer Tarlabaşılılar... Sorun sadece Zincirci değil ki.
Kiracılar zaten kentsel dönüşümün görünmez özneleri olarak Tarlabaşı'nı terk etti. Mülk sahiplerinin bir kısmı ihaleyi alan Çalık Grubu'na ait GAP inşaatın kurduğu ikna odalarında avukatları olmadan acil kamulaştırma tehdidi ile evlerini çok düşük fiyata sattı.
Bir kısım mülk sahibi ise her ne kadar mağduriyetlerini hiçbir zaman gideremeyecek de olsa kamulaştırmaya karşı açtıkları davaların sonucunu bekliyor.

Anıtlar Kurulu da görevini yapmadı

Tarlabaşı Mülk Sahipleri Derneği'nin avukatlığını yapan Barış Kaşka, en mağdurların korkudan evlerini yok pahasına satanlar olduğunu mahkemelik olanların da fiyat arttırımı kazansa dahi yine de bunun piyasa değerinin çok altında olduğunu söylüyor.
5366 sayılı yasanın en önemli maddesi "uzlaşma"nın "soylulaşma" pahasıne hiçe sayıldığını söyleyen Kaşka, dünyada örneği olmayan "Belediye, şirket" ortaklığıyla "kamu yararının zerresinin gözetilmediğini" belirtiyor.
Kaşka, binaların aslına uygun şekilde tarihi özellikleri korunarak yapılmasının mümkün olmadığını, zaten bunu denetlemesi gereken Anıtlar Kurulu'nun da görevini yapmadığını söylüyor.
Dernek Avan projenin iptali için Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi'ne (AİHM)  başvurmuştu. Ama bir ay içinde kamulaştırma davası ile ilgili AİHM'e ilk kez bireysel başvuru yapılacak. (NV)

Fener Balat Ayvansaray Urban Renewal Project

http://www.fatihhaber.com/subayeylem-febay.htm

News Feature and Article on Fatih Haber

Turkey - They don’t care where you live | Slum Stories

Filmmaker: Nejla Osseiran
Production: Amnesty International 

text from http://www.slumstories.org/episode/turkey-they-don%E2%80%99t-care-where-you-live
Urban development in Turkey has moved rapidly since 2000. This is when the authorities started work to protect old settlements and cultural heritage, but they didn’t stop there. Residential areas were tackled as well. This makes residents vulnerable to forced eviction and demolition.
The residents of the Ottoman quarter of Tokludede, in Istanbul, were told in 2006 that their quarter would be tackled. They live in fear ever since. To protest against their uncertain situation, they presented a petition to the local council in which they demanded that their right to housing would be respected.
Şehriban İşbeceren lives in Tokludede. She opposes the council’s zoning plans by refusing to sell her house to the council. 'They don’t give us enough money and they force us to leave our houses. We have done nothing wrong.' According to Memiş Karamukoğlu, who lives in the same quarter, the residents of Tokludede have become undesirable persons. 'If you have money, you can live in Turkey. If not, you’re supposed to just go and live somewhere else. They don’t care where you live!'


Yapımcı/Producer: Imre Azem
Yönetmen/Director: Nejla Osseiran
Kurgu/Editing: Mesut Ulutas
Müzik/Music: Ozan Turkyilmaz & Baris yerli
Yapım/Production: Kibrit Film
Süre/Running time: 8 dk/min
Yılı/Year: 2011

Tarlabaşı Boulevard: preparing for demolition

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Jonathan Lewis on www.tarlabasiistanbul.com

Three weeks ago the bright yellow concretebarrier blocks were installed over night.  A few days later they were spray-painted with the ” Tarlabaşı” development logo  and the construction company “Gap İnșaat” to the side.  The workmen started changing the layout of the road and now concrete footings are going in place along the front.


There is only one functioning building left along one complete section of the boulevard front; even then it’s a hotel that comes from a side-street.  Other than that most of the buildings are shells now, or “Beirut” as one resident referred to it, shaking his head in dismay at his own comparison with a city that he’d only ever seen on television during the wars that Lebanon is known for.
Whilst the residents have moved, or been moved, out.  New people have come in to the frontage; dealers and sex-workers who are new to the area and who appear able to work freely there, whilst residents who have attempted to gather fire wood have been turned away – forced to leave the wood they had already gathered behind.
The workers aren’t sure.   The demolition starts this week says one; no next week says another, the new year my friends contributes a third worker.    They may not know when the demolition will start; but it doesn’t appear to be long before the buildings will start to come down on the district and community of Tarlabaşı.


Tarlabasi Boulevard - Images by jonathan lewis

Tarlabaşı eviction process underway

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Jonathan  on www.tarlabasiistanbul.com

 

Small removal trucks dart along Sakızağaç Caddesi, the main artery cutting through the Tarlabaşı Yenileniyor project area, carrying elaborate piles of furniture, bags of clothing, carpets wrapped in cloth.
Ali, who ran a tiny shoeshine store 50 metres off Tarlabaşı Boulevard carries bags filled with shoelaces, brushes, shoe shining creams and pieces of leather down towards Dolapdere. The yellow building where he rented out a small shop in the basement was not sold yet, but, he says, he has found a nice shop just outside the project area. “No use waiting to the very last minute.” he adds. “They’d evict me sooner or later anyways.”

The urban renewal project Tarlabaşı Yenileniyor was first mentioned in 2006, and slated for completion in 2010. The possibility of demolition has dangled over the neighbourhood like Damocles’ Sword for five years now, with rumours of eviction constantly present: they will come after school is out, after the municipal elections, maybe after school starts, surely after the referendum? While people had started to trickle out of the project area in Tarlabaşı by late 2009, many decided to test fate – and the likelihood of evictions starting just a tad later than official statements made believe.
The last rumoured estimate – that things would get serious after the national elections on June 12, that this time, they would start without any doubt, proved true, and to the surprise of many: After the AKP secured a majority of almost 50%, the AKP-ruled Beyoğlu Municipality has started evictions inside the project area in Tarlabaşı in cooperation with GAP Inşaat, and this time, they move fast. Eviction orders have been distributed to all those residents – both tenants and home owners – whose flats or buildings have been sold, and most residents who have found a home, workshop or shop elsewhere have moved out.
Handan* was evicted on June 24. Her door was welded shut immediately after the police and the municipality cleared out her apartment. “I was in the hospital with my mother when they called me to tell me that I should come to my Tarlabaşı flat immediately. When I did, they had already forced open my door and thrown all my things on the street.” Her son nods. “The police came with gas bombs and everything!” he adds excitedly.
Handan’s husband died five years ago in a car crash, leaving her with her mother and her son who goes to primary school in nearby Cihangır. Handan makes a modest living as a cleaner, wiping staircases in Beyoğlu. “The flat belonged to my husband”, she explains. “I could make ends meet because I did not have to pay rent.” However, since her marriage was only authorised by an imam, and never recognized by the Turkish state, the flat and everything the couple had jointly owned went to the husband’s first and “official” wife that he had never divorced. “She did not tell me that she had sold the flat to GAP”, explains Handan. “So when I received a notice by the company that I would have to clear out of my house, I was deeply shocked.”
The worst thing, she says, was to be treated like a criminal. “The police said I was committing a crime by living in the flat and called me a squatter.” After having received the eviction order, Handan started to look for a flat to rent, but was unable to find something she could afford. “I had bought cardboard boxes, I begged the police to give me one more night to pack my things. I told them that I had been looking for a new apartment but that I didn’t find anything.”  When the police and the municipality-employed packers started to throw her possessions on the street and onto a truck parked outside, Handan had a nervous breakdown. “One of the packers was very sad. He told me that it could have happened to him, that he felt sorry for me”, she recalls. “My neighbours later told me that they took all my things to a municipal storage room. I have not heard from them again, and I don’t know where that storage room is.”
Many of Handan’s neighbours are angry with the municipality and GAP Inşaat for handling evictions like they have with Handan. “How can they throw someone out on the street like that?” asks a local shopkeeper. Her downstairs neighbours, a retired couple from Antakya who have lived in their spacious Tarlabaşı flat for 20 years, feel sorry for the young widow now sitting on their couch for the interview. “If she goes back to her hometown, her father will sell her to an older man in marriage”, says Elif* and Handan nods. “I want to be able to stand on my own feet and provide a good education and a good future for my son. I have nothing left in Ağrı, I cannot go back there.”
Authors Note: We will now closely follow evictions and events as they unfold in the neighbourhood, and deliver more regular updates.
* Name changed by the author


Tarlabasi evictions - Images by jonathan lewis

Urban Transformation Kaǧithane

no pass to demolition

Text from Youtube:

"Istanbul which is the most crowded city of Turkey has very large slums. After the immigration starting from villages to the cities since 1950s, slums which cluster around of industrial basins occurred. These slums increasing covered the considerable part of the city. Once there was neither any transportation nor infrastructure, working people constructed all these slums by themselves. However, these slums are considered as an annuity zone under the international urban transportation project and are wanted to demolition. The Government and local authorities wanted to demolition these houses many times under police and gendarme. Slum people resist to the end and defense their housing rights. BEKSAV Cinema Workshop has recorded demolition events experienced in these slums and resistance against these demolitions for long years. And it talked one to one and interviewed with many people living there. This film is a short document of the slum reality."