Problems of urban transformation victims were discussed

ISTANBUL (DİHA) - Visiting the Sarıgöl neighborhood of Istanbul's Gaziosmanpaşa district, where hundreds of families were forced to leave as a result of urban transformation after it was declared a "risky area" under the Disaster Law in 2006, members of the Zero Discrimination Association and the Social Change Association listened to the problems of the neighborhood residents and provided information about their rights.

The members of the Zero Discrimination Association and the Social Change Association began their work to inform citizens living in areas declared a "risky area" in Istanbul within the scope of the Disaster Law No. 6306 and opened to urban transformation projects in Sarıgöl neighborhood, which was declared a "risky area" by the AKP's Gaziosmanpaşa Municipality in 2006.
Holding a public meeting at the Dereiçi Çağrı Mosque, the association members, including architects and engineers, informed the neighborhood residents about their rights and listened to their problems.

'Their aim is to force people out onto the streets'

Speaking at the meeting, the neighborhood residents stated that they did not want their houses to be demolished and that they would have nowhere to go if they were demolished. Kamile Demircioğlu, a citizen with a disabled son and 7 children who also has a heart condition, stated that she will not leave her house or her neighborhood. Halil İbrahim Aslan, a citizen who said that people are being forced out, said that he is disabled and therefore can only work in his own neighborhood.

Aslan, who complained about not being able to make their voices heard in the parliament, expressed his reaction to the attempts to remove them from their homes by saying, "I am disabled and receive my salary every 3 months. We get by as best we can here. When I rent now, where will I get that much money from? The Prime Minister did not come and see how these people are. Their aim is to force people out on the streets."

'Nobody is happy since the day it was declared a risky area'

Şadi Çatı, a citizen who stated that nobody has been happy since the day the "risk area" was declared in 2006, said that their neighbors who left were constantly insulted in the places they went because they were Roma. Çatı also said that they could not afford to pay the rent of the apartments they were being sent to. He also added that most of the people living in the neighborhood were born there and they do not want to move to other places in order not to lose their own culture.

Proposal to move the problems to the European Parliament

The architect Korhan Gümüş, a member of the Social Change Association, who listened to the residents of the neighborhood, made suggestions to the residents of the neighborhood on what they could do.

Gümüş, who made suggestions that they should especially create public opinion and get the support of the people, drew attention to the fact that the decision given was unlawful according to EU norms. Gümüş, who noted that the municipality had an attitude of ignoring the fact that the people living in the neighborhood did not act according to capitalist logic, stated that they could take the situation to the international platform and said, "Something can be done with some exhibitions that tell about the life here. I suggest that the problems of this place be taken to the European Parliament."

Gümüş, who emphasized that the incident was not only the neighborhood's problems but also their own, said that they would take the situation to the ECHR if necessary. During Gümüş's speech, the people of the neighborhood frequently said, "We do not forgive them our rights" and reacted to those who carried out "urban transformation."

The meeting ended after the speeches.

18.06.2014 Source: DİHA http://www.diclehaber.com/tr/news/content/view/407077?from=1515596325