Sulukule call for solidarity
In Sulukule, after heavy public pressure it seems that the responsible housing administrations (TOKI) now give the solidarity groups the chance to propose a an alternative plan. We urgently need international support at this critical moment.
Attached please find the urgent call and sample letter.
solidarity-with-sulukule-studio
Thanks for your kind solidarity.
Aysim Turkmen
6 August, 2009
URGENT CALL FROM THE SULUKULE STUDIO
The Situation in the Sulukule Neighborhood As you may know, in the renewal process of the Historical Peninsula of Istanbul, the Roman community that has been living in the quarter of Sulukule for over 500 years has been forced to leave the neighborhood. The neighborhood was demolished almost entirely by the Fatih district municipality in order TOKI (The Mass Housing Institution of Turkey) to start the constructions. Around %10 of the existing housing units are still awaiting for demolishment and renewal committee’s and court’s decisions are expected in the following months.
An Alternative Plan
Opposing the forced evictions, demolitions and sales to the third parties under the pressure of the Law 5366, an alternative project, STOP, was prepared by a group of volunteers in September 2008 with the decision of the Sulukule Platform. The STOP project was developed in consideration of the local community’s way of living and needs. It was based on the understanding that any intervention in the area must not be limited with physical renewal but must be developed on the basis of economic and social rehabilitation of the locals and cultural sustainability of the Roman community.
The experts and concerned civilians, who developed the STOP project, have managed to present their alternative project to the local municipality and the Renewal Committee of Istanbul, however, the negotiations did not last long.
Nevertheless, the Sulukule Platform did not stop their efforts tocommunicate to the local and international institutions and the media insisting that the district municipality’s plan was a violation of the housing rights and in particular of the vulnerable Roman community.
A Hope for Sulukule
Due to the pressure of the local and international media and institutions including the threat of UNESCO (of leaving out Istanbul from the World Heritage List because of violating the conventions) in June 2009, TOKI requested the volunteers of the STOP project to present it. In July 2009, representatives of the volunteers had a meeting with TOKI in Ankara. In this meeting, the basics of the project were explained and TOKI asked the volunteers to revise the project according to the current situation of the neighborhood, which was demolished almost entirely by then, in one month time. After the meeting, a new workshop (Sulukule Studio), initially consisted of Sulukule Platform and Solidarity Atelier but open to any participation and support, has started to work on the alternative project. At the moment, this workshop is in full progress for an alternative plan that aims to regain the housing rights of Sulukule residents and minimize the damage that has been caused so far.
The initial decisions were shared with a larger public and the media in two meetings and a huge support was received. As the volunteers of the alternative project, we would like to make an urgent call to the concerned institutions to give their support at this critical period in order to encourage TOKI to consider the alternative project seriously.
We have prepared a sample letter for the institutions to fax the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of TOKI, Erdoğan Bayraktar, and the local mayor, Mustafa Demir. However, we would like to stress that we would appreciate the institutions prepare their own versions of this letter.
Please forward a copy of the fax to the e-mail provided below.
Thank you very much for your support.
Kind regards,
Sulukule Studio
T.C. BASBAKANLIK
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Prime Minister
Kızılay / Ankara
Tel: (0090) 312 418 57 76
Fax: (0090) 312 417 04 76
e-mail: buro.ozelkalem at basbakanlik.gov.tr
TOKI
T.C.BAŞBAKANLIK TOPLU KONUT İDARESİ
BAŞKANLIĞI
Erdoğan Bayraktar (The President of TOKI)
Bilkent Plaza B1 Blok 06800 Bilkent /
ANKARA
Tel: (0090) 312 266 76 80
Fax: (0090) 312 266 77 48
ebayraktar at toki.gov.tr
FATIH MUNICIPALITY (the local municipality)
Mustafa Demir (Fatih Mayor)
Büyük Karaman Cad. No. 53 Fatih /
ISTANBUL
Tel: (212) 444 0 176
Fax: (212) 453 14 83
e-mail: mustafademir at fatih.bel.tr
Contacts of Sulukule Studio:
Aysim Türkmen Derya Nuket Özer
e-mail: aysimt at yahoo.com
e-mail: deryanuket at gmail.com
Sulukule Studio
Posted on August 14th, 2009 under countries, Turkey • Tags: call for solidarity, eviction, Resistance, Right to the City. • 
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