VZCZCXRO6581
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAK #6580/01 3391315
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051315Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0178
INFO RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1738
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1392
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDAI/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 006580 
 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR JONATHAN ROSE 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID SOCI PHUM PGOV ECON TU
SUBJECT: TACKLING TURKEY'S PROBLEMATIC SQUATTER HOUSING 
 
ANKARA 00006580  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
This Cable has been coordinated with Consulates Istanbul and Adana. 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: For decades squatter settlements have marred 
Turkey's urban landscapes in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Adana. 
Prior attempts to solve the issue lacked the creativity and 
political will to stem the tide of illegal constructions.  As Turkey 
looks to integrate further into the global economy as it pursues EU 
membership, the GOT has begun to explore different approaches to 
tackle this longstanding problem. No longer immune from political 
attack, squatters--long viewed as a reliable source of votes--are 
now seen as an impediment to economic and political development.  PM 
Erdogan and other local government officials express growing concern 
over and intolerance for illegal housing developments.  Most 
recently, Turkey's Mass Housing Authority (TOKI) has turned to 
large-scale "urban transformation" projects in coordination with 
local municipalities to solve the squatter problem. Critics have 
voiced skepticism, however, as to the efficacy of such projects, 
highlighting the lack of transparency, the failure to coordinate or 
consult with a cross-section of urban planning experts, and the 
failure to consider social factors unique to squatter communities in 
the projects' designs.  End summary. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF SQUATTER HOUSING 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Major squatter settlements began to emerge in Ankara, 
Istanbul, and Izmir in the late 1940s during the first significant 
rural-to-urban migration waves in Turkey.  Lacking in low-income 
housing, city centers were ill-equipped to absorb the large influx 
of unskilled and highly mobile migrants.  Through the illegal 
construction of shanty structures known as "gecekondu" on public or 
private land, migrants created sprawling squatter communities in 
city centers or oftentimes in undesirable marginal locations such as 
along steep slopes or in river beds. (Comment: "Gecekondu" refers to 
illegally constructed housing in general but literally means "built 
overnight")  Typical early squatter settlements consisted of one or 
two-story houses with gardens or courtyards.  Ankara's most visible 
squatter settlements surfaced on the hillsides along the Esenboga 
airport road where miles of shantytowns created a negative 
impression for first-time visitors to the city.  In the last twenty 
years, the Southeastern city of Adana has also witnessed an upsurge 
in squatter dwellings. 
 
¶3. (U) The private sector and local governments initially tolerated 
migrants' illegal squatting, in part, because they were a crucial 
source of cheap labor during the industrialization process and also 
served as a reliable source of votes for local politicians.  While 
some established squatter settlements gradually received services 
and infrastructure, including roads and bus transportation, city 
water and electricity, the issue of legal title remained unresolved. 
The government enacted a series of amnesty laws legalizing existing 
squatter settlements during the 1960s and 1970s.  The 1980s, 
however, ushered in a new approach to the cities' increasing housing 
dilemma. 
 
 
 
---------------------------- 
DAWN OF URBAN TRANSFORMATION 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Although no statistics exist regarding the percentage of 
squatters in major cities, local experts estimate seventy percent of 
all housing in the metropolitan areas of western Turkey is on plots 
that were originally squatted, many of which are still unrecorded 
and therefore untaxed.  The UN's 2004 Human Settlements report for 
Turkey notes that of the estimated total urban population of 37.8 
million (60.9% of the total population) in 1995, nearly a quarter 
still resided in squatter-type settlements. 
 
¶5.  (U) In the 1980s, not only did new laws legalize existing 
squatter areas, they provided development rights to owners or users 
of the land, and gave ownership of occupied state land to local 
governments to legalize and modernize existing squatter settlements 
through designated improvement plans.  Former peripheral squatter 
settlements also grew more valuable as middle-class apartment blocks 
were erected alongside them, and single-story shanties eventually 
gave way to "apartment block gecekondus." Former squatters became 
owners of these new apartment blocks as a result of amnesty laws, 
and a new class of poorer squatter tenants from rural areas emerged. 
 Although physical improvements to shanty structures were achieved 
 
ANKARA 00006580  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
during this period, city planning bypassed most of these areas 
altogether. 
 
¶6. (U) In 1986, the Ankara Greater City Municipality (AGCM) 
established a planning bureau as a joint stock company whose aim was 
to create modern urban environments and improve existing urban 
areas.  The shareholders of the company were AGCM and its eight 
district municipalities.  The Dikmen Valley Project, centrally 
located in a predominantly middle-to-upper income district of 
Ankara, became the bureau's most significant undertaking and the 
first "urban transformation" project in Ankara.  The project's 
success is an open subject of debate among experts in the field of 
urban planning.  Supporters argue Dikmen transformed a once 
depressed squatter area of the city, while detractors criticize the 
failure to consider the lifestyle and economic needs of squatters in 
the community's high-rise design. 
 
 
----------------------------------- 
LEGAL REFORM AND CHANGING ATTITUDES 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) After decades of courtship, providing services and 
infrastructure to shanty areas in exchange for votes, politicians 
have begun to perceive squatters as obstacles to progress and public 
safety rather than merely as a reliable source of votes.  Public 
statements critical of squatters would have been unthinkable from 
Turkish politicians five years ago, but times have changed as 
evidenced by an April 2006 speech in which PM Erdogan boldly 
criticized squatters and advocated for the elimination of "ghettos" 
that he likened to "tumors surrounding our cities."  Acknowledging 
that the politicians who permitted lands to be occupied for squatter 
housing were no longer in parliament, he declared an end to 
political support for illegal land grabs and expressed a firm 
commitment to razing squatter housing throughout Turkey. 
 
¶8. (SBU) As land prices increase and as more urban residents opt for 
peripheral suburban housing, tackling the problem of illegal housing 
settlements grows more urgent.  Banks currently give out housing 
loans as consumer credits, and with steep interest rates, few 
low-to-middle income Turks can afford to purchase property. 
Legalization of squatter settlements has enriched migrants who 
illegally occupied government lands.  Murat Dogru, head of Ankara 
municipality's projects department, estimated that over the past 
twenty years municipalities had essentially gifted millions of 
dollars in land to squatters in addition to millions spent on 
servicing illegal settlements.  Dogru strongly opposes legalization 
which he believes penalizes law-abiding citizens and unfairly 
enriches migrants by redistributing a government resource belonging 
to everyone to just a few. 
 
¶9. (U) Although charged in 1966 with eradicating squatter housing, 
the Ministry of Public Works' (MPW) authority was limited to 
upgrading existing housing stock and clearing uninhabitable 
settlement areas.  In 2000, the MPW's squatter housing fund assets 
were transferred to Turkey's Mass Housing Authority (TOKI). 
Observers criticize this separation of implementation authority and 
funding as dramatic inefficiencies for housing transformation 
projects.  A new draft amendment to the Squatter Housing Law 
transfers all development and implementing authority to TOKI, 
allowing it to undertake new development projects or to transfer 
them to local municipalities.  The largest of the sixteen greater 
municipalities--Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir--are located in 
earthquake zones.  A second pending draft law, if approved, would 
increase municipalities' authority to raze squatter housing in 
earthquake regions, particularly in Istanbul where illegal 
constructions are on the rise.  The proposed law would also grant 
tax exemptions for five years to companies that partner with 
municipalities to undertake housing transformation projects in these 
areas. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
LATEST URBAN TRANSFORMATION/RENEWAL EFFORTS 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (U) A strong supporter of Turkey's EU candidacy, and mindful 
that EU visitors' first glimpse of Ankara would be marred by 
unsightly squatter settlements dotting the landscape from the 
airport into the city centre, Ankara's mayor, Melih Gokcek, called 
the airport road the "gate to our republic" and selected the site 
for urban transformation.  The Turkish parliament passed the North 
Ankara Entrance Urban Transformation Law in March 2004 authorizing 
 
ANKARA 00006580  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
various agencies to undertake large-scale urban renewal projects and 
prohibiting local municipalities from providing services to squatter 
settlements.  The North Ankara City Entrance Project (NACEP), 
involving 3,600,000 square meters of land and affecting 6,500 
squatters, became the main impetus for passage of the new law. When 
completed, NACEP will boast 18,000 new housing units in Ankara. 
 
¶11. (U) Ankara officials insist that all 6,500 squatters signed onto 
the project which required razing of their current homes and 
relocation to temporary housing for several years.  The municipality 
is providing interim government housing to several hundred families 
and a monthly rental allowance to the remaining ones until their new 
apartment units are completed.  Former squatters will pay the 
difference between the value of their old land and/or housing 
structures and the newly constructed apartments.  In addition to a 
ten percent down pament to the municipality, they will make 110 
mnthly installment payments for the remaining prce difference. 
Ankara officials estimate former squatters will owe approximately 
forty-five thousand Turkish lira (approximately 32,000 USD) to the 
municipality for a 100 square meter apartment.  Murat Dogru, Ankara 
Municipality's head project planner, estimates 500 million in 
additional income from NACEP through the sale of additional 
apartment units.  In addition to residences, the project will 
include convention and health centers, educational, cultural and 
recreational facilities, mosques, ponds, and commercial and shopping 
centers. 
 
¶12.  (U) In an effort to combat its growing squatter housing 
problem, Adana hatched a project called "Model Adana," which 
envisions the construction of 100,000 annual units for squatter 
residents to be purchased at $7,000 each.  Estimated building costs 
of $700,000,000 are expected to be financed through the GOT's annual 
Southeast development expenditures for Adana.  To date, no units 
have been constructed under this plan.  TOKI and the Adana 
municipality, however, have recently partnered to undertake 
privately financed urban transformation projects. Although TOKI 
currently has seventeen projects underway in Adana-- an estimated 
7,900 units--only two of the projects, totaling 800 units, are near 
completion. 
 
---------------- 
CRITICS WEIGH IN 
---------------- 
 
¶13. (U) Critics of urban transformation projects like NACEP argue 
that construction of luxurious apartment buildings in former 
squatter areas perpetuate rather than solve existing housing 
problems.  They argue such projects fail to consider the 
socio-economic level of the squatters who oftentimes cannot afford 
to shop at the supermarkets and commercial centers surrounding their 
new apartment buildings.  Squatters frequently cannot adjust, for 
example, to upscale apartment living and simply sell their units and 
illegally squat in other areas of the city.  Instead of treating 
squatters as homogeneous populations, they emphasize local 
governments should develop projects consistent with squatters' 
cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and follow a more 
case-by-case basis approach.  Squatters' communal lifestyle provides 
for socialization and networking opportunities, and many critics 
warn the elimination of "gecekondu communities" will destroy this 
collective character ultimately leading to increased crime and 
social exclusion, especially among the youth.  Critics predict that 
without steady or formal employment, former squatters will be unable 
to meet the terms of the municipalities' monthly repayment plans and 
many will be forced to sign over rights to their apartment units. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) TOKI President Erdogan Bayraktar calls squatter housing 
Turkey's "third biggest problem after foreign debt and terrorism." 
With twenty different urban transformation projects potentially 
affecting 75,000 squatters currently in the works, the magnitude of 
the housing problem cannot be overstated.  Although the issue is 
squarely on the radar screen of many local government officials and 
academics, the efficacy of large-scale projects such as Dikmen 
Valley and NACEP to address the burgeoning squatter problem remains 
to be seen.  Turkish academics who have researched squatter issues 
for decades express concern over increasing crime and drug abuse 
among the youth of squatter settlements, and they are skeptical that 
massive urban renewal projects will ameliorate these problems. 
 
 
ANKARA 00006580  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶15. (SBU) Local urban planning experts in Ankara voiced dismay and 
disgust over the Ankara Greater City Municipality's unwillingness to 
include a spectrum of collaborators in their efforts to address the 
squatter housing problem.  Turkish officials charged with planning 
and executing large-scale urban renewal projects could certainly 
benefit from collaboration with and input from Turkish and US urban 
planning experts.  The perception on the ground is that the lack of 
transparency in all phases of urban transformation projects--at 
least in Ankara--has the potential to lead to cronyism among AK 
party-dominated municipalities doling out construction to 
party-affiliated firms.  With millions of dollars at stake in the 
form of construction contracts and revenues from apartment sales, 
dividing the economic spoils of such projects appears to take 
precedence over tackling the root causes of the squatter phenomenon 
in Turkey.  Although the GOT's renewed focus on the decades-old 
housing problem is encouraging, the price for failing to adequately 
address the underlying causes for it will be steep. 
 
WILSON#