Residents protest urban transformation in front of the AKP-run Municipality

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Fetihtepe Neighborhood residents gathered in front of Beyoğlu Municipality today (June 10) after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) run İstanbul Beyoğlu Municipality forced them to evacuate their houses because of urban transformation.

Chanting slogans in front of the Municipality's headquarters, locals protested the municipality and called for their demands to be met.

Şener Kartal, the President of Okmeydanı Environmental Protection and Beautification Association stated the following:

"The urban transformation office was opened here. However, it turned into a center for deceiving people. Documents were placed before us. We insisted that we didn't want them and everything to be done following the law."

Kartal stated that they had put pressure on locals through that office and even some people who were resisting were threatened with a gun.

Sur example

"They had introduced a new omnibus bill to be able to realize urban transformation in Sur. It contains 17 articles. By doing that they took away our right to live."

"A law can be passed in the parliament, but one must have a conscience. We have filed 160 lawsuits, most of which have been decided to halt the execution. Why don't you take into account what citizens say?"

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Do not use the police against us

"Rental aid cannot be 1500 TL, this amount is very insufficient. We want a guarantee about the promises given to us. We don't want to pay for it. We're asking for decent rental aid and bilateral contracts until we leave here and come back."

"Haydar Ali (name of the Mayor of Beyoğlu), you are a lawyer, is this your justice? Do not use the Turkish police for the benefit of politicians. We can see from the eyes of the police that they feel sorry for us too. You brought the people against each other in Gezi, you won't be able to do it here," Kartal said.

"We do not want to suffer the fate of the people of Sulukule"

The lawyer of the residents of the neighborhood, Onur Cıngıl spoke after him:

"They leave people deprived of water in the middle of summer. Enemies of the people are breaking their laws. What is happening right now in İstanbul is cruelty against thousands of people."

A local protesting the Municipality said, "They say 'we will do what is necessary.' We witnessed what they did in Sulukule. Where are the people of Sulukule now? We do not want to suffer this fate. They want to give me 160 thousand lira. Can I buy a house in Istanbul for this money?"

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What happened?

AKP-run İstanbul's Beyoğlu Municipality tried to forcibly evict the citizens living in Okmeydanı Fetih Neighborhood because the region was declared a risky area.

Residents of the neighborhood objected to the decision and did not leave their homes. They resisted the officials that came to cut off their natural gas, electricity, and water yesterday (Jun 9).

Despite the decision of the Istanbul 4th Administrative Court to "partial stay of execution regarding the energy cut and evacuation applied to the neighborhood", the energy cut continued.

Police intervened in the region and the doors of the houses were broken by a ram, and the electricity, water, and natural gas of 15 households were cut off.

The neighborhood stayed under police blockage for a while and some locals were detained.

There was also a 15-year-old boy among the citizens who resisted the pressure and threats from the police that have been continuing since June 7, 2022.

At least six people were detained during the police intervention, and the 15-year-old boy was released after the reaction of the locals.

The locals are demanding rent aids be re-determined according to the current rental crisis in İstanbul and that these rents be given to them they move to the new houses.

They also demand that the plans should be made in consultation with non-governmental organizations, the relevant departments of universities, city planners, and the chamber of architects.

(TY/AK/AÖ/TB)