The womb of Istanbul

Why are millions of Turks live in slums, despite the economic successes of the country

15 million Turks, according to the authorities, live in slums, illegal buildings that do not meet any construction and sanitary standards. The program of their liquidation, declared by the Government of Recep Erdogan , seems to have not reached its goal - but it gave rise to a number of "millionaires from the slum."

The ten-year-old Aisha in bright Turkish shalvars dance every evening in the Istanbul district Taxim, where full of foreign tourists are full. Passing by generously pour a trifle in her pocket. Some put food supplies: tomatoes, cheese, bread. The girl does not hide that it is not frequent to eat. He says that he lives in Bosphorus slums. Bosphorus divides the city into the European and Asian part. On the picturesque shores, rich villas are adjacent to the chaotic pile of dilapidated buildings, which clearly spoil the general view of the coast. Aisha lives in one of these houses:

I have five brothers and sisters, they do not go to school. Adults believe that we do not need lessons

- I do not know how to write. I have five brothers and sisters, they do not go to school. Adults believe that we do not need lessons. Every morning, my friends go to work with adults. They collect garbage, sell on the streets, and in the evening they play football, even in bad weather. They all want to become famous players.

Seven -year -old Ahmet has been living in Istanbul slums since birth

In Gedecond, more than one generation has grown. These illegal slums appeared in the early fifties, during the years of industrialization, when the peasants reached for the cities in search of a better life. “The Anatolian lands left about two million Turks,” writes Salahaddite Salad , “they brought Arabesques to big cities, the folk music of crying, which expressed the hopelessness of their life.” The visiting peasants did not have funds to rent at least some housing. Houses were built from improvised means, right at the place of work. Asbestos, car tires, scraps of cardboard, linoleum, metal rods were used. The first Istanbul sludge grew in the Zeytynburn area, in the European part of the city, where Russian shutters are still cooked.

- The first textile factories opened there, where there were many jobs. People came, they had nowhere to live. In one night, illegal housing was erected. They assembled the house and attached it to the wall of the mosque. According to the law, the authorities could not demolish any structure standing at the sacred place. The slums began to grow like mushrooms after the rain, and they could not do anything with them. They were nicknamed "Gedge Condu" - "Houses built overnight," says Salahaddite Salad.

Women in scarves and long shalvars are busy cooking food. There are no gas and water in the houses, and electricity is stealing at a neighboring substation. The authorities look at it through their fingers - they still cannot be found guilty. The inhabitants of the slumber become aware of the upcoming raid even before the police come here. For security reasons, taxi drivers are reluctant to ride here, who landed passengers halfway, as it was with me when I went to one of these slums in the Asian part of Istanbul. Forty -year -old Nilai has been living here for about twenty years with her husband and son:

- We live in the old fashioned way closed by the community. There are no supermarkets and credit cards. We calculate in cash and know each other in the face. They say that our economy is one of the most violently developing in Europe. This is complete nonsense.

One of the buildings in slums, ready for demolition

Gedecond is the center of the criminal world. Here their laws reign, unopened kings rule, which control the Istanbul flower markets, street prostitution and trade - in particular, sellers of mussels, beloved by the Fastfood Turks, which are eaten directly at the stops of transport. The most numerous residents of this community are the Kurds who came in search of work from the southeast, where the army of the Kurdistan Workers' Party banned for many years has been continuing for many years. Obviously, therefore, on the walls of buildings there are many inscriptions in defense of the leader of the party of Abdullah Ojalan in prison. “Residents of slums speak special slang, a mixture of Kurdish and Turkish languages, which is sometimes difficult to understand to an ordinary citizen,” says thirty -year -old Aydin .

Many have not been able to find a job for years. We were put in such a position that we are forced to quit an honest life and survive, earning money in illegal ways

- For many years they cannot find a job. We were put in such a position that we are forced to quit an honest life and survive, earning money illegal ways. Many are poured into illegal organizations, arrange anti -government actions.

The ruling party of justice , which is called the "defender of the poor", sends a car with coal, pasta, household appliances as humanitarian aid. The party leader, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan promises to destroy the ghetto, and at this place to build new schools and houses. True, experts doubt it. According to various sources, about fifteen million people live in the country in the country in slums. The draft law on amnesty residents of illegal slums has existed since Tansu Chiller , who was the Prime Minister of Turkey in the nineties of the last century. Then she promised migrants after the demolition of houses monetary compensation. True, the authorities for a long time could not agree with realtors and developers about the price of a square meter of housing. The current Prime Minister Recep Erdogan said that he would solve this problem:

- Gedecond is disfigured by many Turkish cities. This is a huge problem that the authorities are trying to solve for more than fifty years. Built houses pose a danger to life, during an earthquake, they will be collapsed like a house of cards. We are not losing hope to solve this problem. We will destroy the slums and build a new city, as the great Sultan-warehouse Mehmed Fatih and builder Mimar Sinan once did.

Mehtab is one of the residents of the slum. She earns a living, asking for alms

Erdogan really began to carry out the "project of the century" on the demolition of slums. For this, the party of justice received additional votes of voters and remained in power for a second term. Part of the apartments built on the site of the slum was allowed to sell, and the other to populate the poor who lost their roof over their heads. Despite the fact that the new houses were located in the most prestigious Istanbul areas, wealthy citizens refused to live next to the poor. Soon the first complaints from the migrants appeared. Says one of the new settlers:

- We could not live there, or rather, to survive. Expensive accounts began to receive us, one hundred or more dollars a month. Mother stopped using the stove and forbade to light the light. The chic life was too tough for us.

As soon as he managed to become the owners of new apartments, the poor sold or rented them out

As soon as they managed to become the owners of new apartments, the poor sold or rented them out. A similar situation has developed not only in Istanbul, but throughout the country. Former beggars became rich, expensive trinkets and cars were engaged, and invested in dubious projects. Speculations began in the housing market. Construction companies evicted people nowhere, and the lands were given to developers. In protest, the inhabitants of Sulukale, the oldest Istanbul slums, refused to leave their homes and created the political organization of the same name. They accused the officials of squandering budget funds, saying that the program of assistance to the poor is an unrealizable myth, like other slogans of the Justice Party. According to them, the authorities turned away from the poor and engaged in elite housing projects for Arab customers. In the prestigious Istanbul areas there is a massive demolition of old buildings, the cost of an apartment in new buildings exceeds a million dollars and is unlikely to be affordable for the inhabitants of Gedecond.