Shack Owner Wins Urban Transformation Suit Against Municipality
Yüksel Dum won the suit he filed against Kadıköy Municipality, which put up demolished his house in the name of urban transformation and put the property up for sale.
Eight years ago, İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Kadıköy Municipality collaboratively demolished in the name of urban transformation the houses of 250 Roma families in Küçükbakkalköy that lies within the limits of Ataşehir, now presented as a finance hub.
The Roma could not even retrieve their belongings in the demolition that took place in the company of 1,500 police officers. Many Roma families were left on the street, some had to live a long time without electricity or water. Some continue to live in tents under very dire conditions.
A Küçükbakkalköy resident his whole life, Yüksel Dum chose to resist for his assignment certified land.
He has been living with his family of 18 for the past 8 years in the shack he built with his own hands in place of his demolished home. He makes his living selling flowers he puts in front of his shack.
Kadıköy Municipality demanded 430,000 TL for Dum to buy the house back from the municipality. When the Dum family could not pay the sum, the municipality put the property up to be sold by tender.
İstanbul 7th Administrative Court cancelled the sale by tender a second time, finding it unjustifiable. The municipality will lodge an appeal for the second time. A municipality official said that they have to complete this legal process because they are a public institution.
This means Yüksel Dum will be living in the shack for a while longer.
Case attorney Hilal Küey said that in the event of the execution of the decision, Yüksel Dum will finally have the right to sell the house legally to a 3rd person.
"This property is the sole assurance of our future”
"They’re not going to let me live here. I just want to sell the property and leave," says Yüksel Dum.
"I was born and raised here. My family has been here for 2.5 centuries. Eight years ago they demolished our houses with all our stuff in it, accompanied by 1,500 riot police. They exiled the entire neighborhood. My neighbors slept in garbage containers for a long time. Now they’ve all scattered. Some live in tents and some on the streets.
"I was obstinate. I’ve been putting up a struggle here for eight years in the shack I built. The Municipality asked for 430,000 TL for the property. How could I afford that sum? We are people who strive to get through the day every day. We sell flowers, and sometimes we collect paper. The municipality sold my land by tender. But I have a land assignment certificate. This is my children’s entire future. Since they’re not going to let me live here, I want to finally sell the land to a third party and leave."
"Kadıköy Municipality is responsible for the victimization"
The European Roma Rights Center Turkey Human Rights Observer Hacer Foggo draws attention to how urban transformation exacerbates the Roma people’s already difficult living conditions.
"They destroyed a huge Roma neighborhood in the name of urban transformation. They took the Roma’s homes, giving them 2-3 thousand Liras in return. Now they’ve all scattered. Some of them live in Pendik district in tents that don’t even have water. So they are all under conditions that are much worse than before.
"As for Kadıköy Municipality, they have been sticking with the same mentality even though their administration has changed. This family has been victimized for eight years because of the municipality. The municipality sold their assignment certified land by an illegal tender. One would expect a social democrat municipality to side with the wronged party, not with the tenderer." (NV/PU)
* Click here to read the article in Turkish.