Istanbul Family Struggles Against Gentrification

Tarlabaşı, a historical district located in downtown Istanbul, has been forsaken for decades. Inhabited by a majority of Roma people with low income, the district went through a massive transformation after urban renewal projects gave their first signals of gentrification.

Several long-term dwellers of Tarlabaşı has already left their homes after satisfyingly negotiating a price with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality on their property rights. Those whose negotiations left unsettled, however, have been left to their destiny, mostly living in ruined houses and streets.

Some previous home owners reportedly filed lawsuits to appeal their property deals. While the new deals provided them a better of amount, the majority of them preferred to move to a different neighborhood.

Ali Ber is currently living in Tarlabaşı with his wife, 5 children, daughter-in-law and 2 grandchildren. His house is officially certified as cultural heritage by the municipality.

"We immigrated to Istanbul from Mardin 13 years ago. My son works in textile sector and he is currently the only working person in the family," Ali Ber told bianet. "Unlike our former neighbors who left their homes for minimal prices, we will not leave Tarlabaşı until we get what we deserve."

Ali Ber told bianet that their water access has been cancelled lately. "When I went to the municipality to ask why, they said we could have been evicted already. We started to collecting rain drops to use as water."

Reminding that his sister was offered roughly 80.000 euros for her house two years ago, Ali Ber said he was offered almost half less than that.

"The majority of my neighbors received threats and lower their prices. They are doing the same thing to me now. First they offered less than 30,000. Then they rose it a bit more than 35,000. I can't afford a house in Istanbul with that amount. [...] We are forced to sell our home to a minimum amount for the sake of urban renewal projects, but we won't yield" Ali Ber said.

Nimet Uğural Yalgın, Ali Ber's lawyer, their client hired an expert for property price assessment, which suggested a price a lot higher than what they were offered by the municipality.

"Restricting water access is against humanity. It is only aiming to force them out," she said. (EA/BA/NV/BM)