Civilizing the Kurdish Population of Ayazma: Ayazma / Tepeüstü Urban Transformation Project -Küçükçekmece Istanbul

Abstract

Ayazma/Tepeustu urban transformation project3 in Kucukcekmece (2004-2007) happens to be the first and the largest urban transformation project implemented in Istanbul so far. It is also the first project targetting a homogenous population.4 It impacted the lives of 1440 familes, a populaton of about 7800 persons, mainly from Ayazma. Ayazma and Tepeustu neighbourhoods were “cleansed” for regeneration and opened up to developers for prestigious projects while the inhabitants composed mainly of the urban poor were subjected to forced evictions and displacement from their decades old settlements, encountering serious economic deprivations, violations of social and cultural rights and psychological traumas engendered by the relocation. The study is based on a research conducted in the relocation site betweeen October 2008-February 2009, almost 2 years after the relocation. In depth interviews were carried out with 75 persons, comprising mainly relocated residents in Bezirganbahce Mass Housing Administration (TOKI) blocks. Some NGO representatives, civil servants and officials from the municipality were also interviewed. The study focuses on the social, cultural and psychological aspects of the project which disregarded the distinctive culture, tradition and custom of the Kurdish community and the social engineering mechanisms imposed through “civilization” projects named “How to live in an apartment-building”. Hostilities between ethnic groups and polarization in the relocation site were other findings of the study. The study also discloses the criminalization of the urban poor (and minorities) as a legitimization tool to intervene into urban space. OZET Kucukcekmece Ayazma Tepeustu kentsel donusumu (20042007), Istanbul’un ilk genis kapsamli kentsel donusum projesi oldugu gibi ayni zamanda homojen buyuk bir nufusun toplu olarak yeniden iskân edildigi ilk projedir. Cogunlugu Ayazma’dan, 1440 aileden olusan 7800 kisilik bir nufusu etkilemistir. Kentsel donusum projesi, Ayazmalilarin sadece yasam alanlarini degil, buyuk kentte tutunabilmek icin kurduklari duzenlerini ve yasamlarini da darmadagin eder. Bezirgânbahce’deki ekonomik kosullar ve site yasaminin dayattigi sartlardan dolayi aralarindaki dayanisma ve sosyal iliski aglari cozulur; dahasi, site duzeninin kisitli kamusal alanlarinda ve baskici ortaminda, topluca gerceklestirdikleri kulturel pratiklere de olanak yoktur; elverissiz kosullar altinda atomize bireyler olurlar. Bu calismada, gecekondu nufuslarinin yasam pratiklerine uymayan ve soz konusu Kurt bir nufus oldugundan sosyal ve kulturel bircok pratigi de imkânsiz kilan; dolayisiyla, magduriyet ve ihlallere sebebiyet veren TOKI konutlarindaki yasam pratikleri, Ayazmalilar orneginde mercek altina alinacaktir. Yerel yonetimce once damgalanan, yerlerinden edilen ve birbirlerinden kopartilan Ayazmalilara, yeniden iskân ertesinde ‘medenilestirme’ projesi olarak dayatilan apartman yasami diktesi ve sonuclari incelenecek ve yerel yonetimin gercek amaci masaya yatirilacaktir. 83 Received: September 09, 2013 Accepted: December 30, 2013 Correspondence: Cihan Uzuncarsili Baysal. e-mail: cihanbaysal@yahoo.com 1 Inspired from Gray and Mooney’s article: Glasgow’s new urban frontier ‘ Civilising’ the population of ‘Glasgow East’. 2 The article is based on a paper presented at the 6th International Cultural Studies Conference on 8-12 th September 2011 at Kadir Has University. The paper is developed from the authour’s Master’s thesis submitted to Istanbul Bilgi University Institute of Social Sciences, Human Rights Law Department 2010. 3 Urban transformation projects as they are named in the Turkish context are regeneration projects in which inhabitants of informal neighbourhoods are subjected to forced evictions or forced relocation (if recognized as beneficiaries) in public mass housing sites mostly at the periphery of the cities while their neighbourhoods which have become profitable areas of the ever growing city are turned into the hands of developers or public private partnerships for luxurious projects. 4 It was not a coincidence that after the Kurdish minority in Ayazma, the Roma minority of Sulukule followed. Urban renewal in Turkey built its legitimacy by targetting minorities at first. These neighbourhoods also happen to be the weakest links where not much resistance is expected. Planlama 2013;23(2):83-94 doi: 10.5505/planlama.2013.88597