From: hrcoord@igc.apc.org (Human Rights Coordinator)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.turkish
Subject: TURKEY: Settled migrants fight for
Date: 11 Sep 92 18:28:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1475100154:000:7314
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Sep 11 11:28:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: TURKEY: Settled migrants fight for 

/* Written 12:04 am  Sep 11, 1992 by newsdesk in
cdp:ips.englibrary */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all
rights reserved.  Permission to re- print within 7 days of
original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: TURKEY: Settled migrants fight for the right to remain in
the city

an inter press service feature

by nadire mater

istanbul, sep 08 (ips) -- kucukarmutlu's 20,000 residents are
being denied all the basic services -- electricity, water, postal,
health and transportation.

but having -- in many cases -- traveled hundreds of miles to set
up their homes in this peripheral istanbul district, they don't
intend to leave -- even if government wants to tear down their
houses to set up a military base.

it was after all they who built this little district on the
northern outskirts of this bustling north-western turkish city,
erecting 2,000 shanty houses -- each one literally overnight --
over the past six years.

''we will fight to death but not let our houses be demolished,''
said one resident, who has built a 'gecekondu' at the base of one
of the scenic hillsides looking out to the bosphorus waters.

a 'gecekondu' is a small brick and cement house which is built at
night in order to escape the eyes of the authorities. more than
550,000 of them have sprung up throughout istanbul in the last 40
years and house four million of istanbul's 7.2 million
population.

the ministry of national defence recently announced its intention
to have the area cleared ''as soon as possible'' in order to set
up anti-aircraft bases to provide air defence along istanbul's sea
borders.

during the gulf war in february, 1991, the ministry deployed anti-
aircraft batteries in the district and the local sariyer
municipality was ordered to block all services in an effort to
deter further settlement in the area.

''there was pressure coming from above, that is true, and the
services i was allowed to provide for the district was limited to
collecting garbage and to building roads, and i still go on doing
those,'' says ihsan yalcin, the sariyer mayor with responsibility
for the district.

now government wants at least 100 houses in the area torn down.
but yalcin thinks it is unfair for government to force the
residents from their new found home without providing alternative
accommodation. ''unless new housing is provided, i will not ruin
their houses.''

indeed, the land is public property encroached upon by country
folk seeking a better life in an urban town. (more/ips)

turkey: settled migrants fight for the right to remain in the
cit(2)

turkey: settled (2)

but nowadays accommodation is a scarce commodity in the urban
centres, which are bearing the brunt of an increasing migrant
population from the poorer rural districts.

as many as 900,000 gecekondus have sprung up in the turkish
capital ankara, the western port of izmir, the southern port of
mersin and the industrial centres of adana in the south and bursa
in the north-west.

the north-western city of istanbul -- a hub of merchant activity
-- has been expanding at a rate of 100 new dwellers a day, showing
a population growth of 1.5 million between 1985 and 1990.

according to yalcin, the problem in kucukarmutlu is closely
related to the existing general social problems in istanbul and
turkey as a whole, particularly high unemployment.

''every year 400,000 new emigrants come to istanbul to find a job.
and the task of the state is to create jobs and housing for the
people not to demolish their homes,'' concludes yalcin.

this massive migration, the pressing demand for urban land and the
illegal erection of houses on state property has over the years
caused a lot of controversy, and at one point there was a
mafia-like outfit which attempted to take advantage of the
uncertain situation.

claiming ownership of the publicly owned lands, the outfit have
made unbelievable profits by selling tiny plots to newcomers who
are prepared to give almost anything to find a shelter.

the plots where the residents of kucukarmutlu have settled since
1986 were originally owned by istanbul technical university, the
municipality, and the ministry of national defence, but this did
not stop the mafia organisation from selling the land to the
migrants.

however as tension between the mafia group and the migrants
reached boiling point, the authorities decided in 1988 to
establish local district committees to parcel out the land free of
cost.

''we have divided the district in four blocks,'' said ahmet, a
young kucukarmutlu resident, who proudly announces that the
committees are well on their way to achieving what the state has
failed to do in for the past 40 years.

''we have laid the electric network ourselves. we steal the
electricity and the water from the main lines. now we are
developing our settlement plans and a polyclinic.''

ahmet is a member of one of the four block committees, each of
which is made up of 12 elected members. the committees assume both
the powers of the municipality and the state. (more/ips)

turkey: settled migrants fight for the right to remain in the
cit(3-e)

turkey: settled (2)

but the committee's work may be all for nought with government's
plans to set up a military base. what also weighs heavily against
the residents are government fears that the area is harbouring
guerrilla groups like the kurdistan workers party (pkk) and dev-
sol.

a number of police troops have been deployed in the region over
the last three months, with two of the very primary schools which
the committees have set up, being turned into police outposts.

according to istanbul governor hayri kozakcioglu: ''the gecekondu
areas which have developed irregularly and rapidly surrounded
istanbul are very suitable mediums for terrorism.

''the immigrants who come from other parts of turkey are forming
tightly knitted collective groupings and prevent the others from
entering into their domain which as a result restrain the security
and information efforts.''

oya gokbayrak, 30, another member of the committee, admits that
the district is coming under increasing pressure because
government believes it is a hideout for ''terrorists''.

''the armoured cars are patrolling. the youngsters are searched on
the streets and police threaten to shoot us if we go out after
nine o'clock  in the evening,'' complained gokbayrak.

nejdet menzir the istanbul chief of police justifies these
measures by claiming that ''underground organisations''  are
trying to build a mass base in the area.

the residents however deny the existence of terrorists in the
district. ''we have come here to find a shelter. there is no
terrorism here. we are fed up with police terrorism,'' said an
elderly woman of 60.

''kucukarmutlu has the most wonderful scene looking at bosphorus,
and the rich do not want us to remain here. they believe that not
us but they deserve to enjoy that view,'' she adds.

meanwhile, the children are concerned about what will happen when
the schools reopen on september 15. eylem, 11, who hopes to
graduate from primary school this coming year says: ''the
policemen are living in our school. i am extremely scared. i don't
know if we will be taught by the policemen.''
(end/ips/np/nm/cpg/92)