VZCZCXRO0821
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #1102/01 2120446
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 310446Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0373
INFO RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 4046
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 6085
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001102 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: URBAN POOR LEERY OF MODERN COMFORT 
 
REF: A. 08 ISTANBUL 435 
     ¶B. 08 ISTANBUL 166 
     ¶C. 06 ANKARA 6580 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Urban renewal remains problematic in 
Turkey.  Today's gecekondus (illegally built shanty houses) 
are a visible reminder of the rapid influx of rural migrants 
into the cities.  The GOT wishes to develop the land occupied 
by these gecekondus into modern high rises with the aim of 
beautifying, modernizing, and urbanizing low-income 
neighborhoods.  The GOT has directed Turkey's Mass Housing 
Authority (TOKi) to provide alternative housing to gecekondu 
occupants that it deems suitable for today's Turkey.  Many 
gecekondu residents, however, are opposed to centralized 
urbanization since it disturbs their traditional lifestyle. 
As a result, they resent the GOT initiatives.  Despite the 
ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) attempts to 
parlay this free housing into political support, many 
gecekondu residents appear unwilling to fall in line.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Behiye Taskin is a hairdresser in Ankara.  She was 
born in a Turkish village and raised in an Ankara gecekondu. 
(NOTE: "Gecekondu" is a term for illegally built slum housing 
and literally means "built overnight."  END NOTE)  Behiye's 
family sold their gecekondu to a contractor and moved into an 
apartment.  Her parents, however, grew to detest apartment 
living because it was so removed from village traditions.  It 
did not have a garden for fruits and vegetables, friendly 
neighbors, or room for farm animals.  Behiye's parents, like 
many other rural migrants, returned to their village in hopes 
of reclaiming their old lifestyle.  Behiye, however, remained 
in her family's apartment in Ankara and opened up a beauty 
salon.  She is resigned to living in the city center, but 
wishes she could return to the old days.  Behiye's story 
resembles that of many ex-gecekondu residents.  Few families 
return to their villages.  Many gecekondu families who sold 
their homes and relocated to a high rise apartment eventually 
moved to another gecekondu in search of their previous 
lifestyle. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Turkey began to see major squatter settlement 
trends in Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir in the late 1940s and 
again in the 1990s.  These urban centers lacked the proper 
infrastructure for rural migrants, which forced them to 
construct illegal shanty houses in both the outskirts and 
centers of the cities.  The typical gecekondus were made of 
stone or brick and consisted of a single floor, a garden, and 
a wooden roof.  This eased the new migrants' transition to an 
urban setting by allowing them to be self-sufficient in 
village-type housing.  Behiye Taskin said she remembers 
family meals on the floor, the produce her mother grew in 
their garden and the overall sense of community she 
experienced in the gecekondu neighborhood. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Women at the Yildiz Literacy Center shared similar 
viewpoints with us on their quality of life as gecekondu 
residents.  One woman at the center said she was born in 
Ankara, moved to a village and decided to return to a 
gecekondu in the outskirts of Ankara.  She said that the 
quality of life in gecekondus was relatively high since, 
unlike her village home, it had water and electricity. 
Despite these women's fond memories, however, GOT officials 
view gecekondus as an obstacle for political and economic 
development.  They contend these houses are of lower quality 
and lack basic utilities.  PM Erdogan has routinely 
criticized squatters and has advocated for the elimination of 
"ghettos," especially those surrounding the Ankara airport. 
(Ref C) 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In 2000, the GOT assigned all housing projects to 
Turkey's Mass Housing Authority (TOKi).  TOKi's primary 
mission is to tear down gecekondus and replace them with 
modern apartments.  In a recent discussion with us, Head of 
Strategy and Development at TOKi Gul Deliktas noted that 
TOKi's key goal is to work with the GOT to create a model 
framework for quality low-cost housing.  He said municipal 
governments remain resolute about tearing down gecekondus and 
transferring their inhabitants into new TOKi apartments. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Still, many gecekondu residents have had a 
difficult time making the transition.  Sincan Sub-Province's 
Municipal Assembly Member Orhan Kaya told us that adaptation 
to life in high rises is difficult.  There is a lack of 
space, new neighbors are strangers, the apartments are 
unsuitable for raising animals and growing produce, and the 
residents quickly become aware of social class differences. 
Deliktas added that TOKi has built 360,000 apartments for 
 
ANKARA 00001102  002 OF 002 
 
 
low-, middle- and high-income classes nationwide.  (NOTE: 
TOKi reported building over 36,000 luxurious apartments in 
order to subsidize the costs of building low-income housing. 
END NOTE)  Many ex-gecekondu residents claimed that life in 
high-rises is financially unsustainable.  Former squatters 
are expected to pay the difference between the value of their 
old property (sold to contractors or the municipalities) and 
the new apartments.  They often borrow large amounts in loans 
from private banks in order to provide the municipality with 
a required ten percent down payment as well as additional 
monthly installments for the remaining price difference (Ref 
C).  In the end, despite TOKi's and the GOT's efforts, many 
of these new residents sell their modern apartments and move 
into other gecekondu areas. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Despite the apparent inclination of the urban poor 
to vote for the Justice and Development Party (AKP), 
gecekondu residents are often critical of the system and its 
failure to provide adequate support.  During the last local 
elections, opposition party members alleged that AKP 
distributed refrigerators and other big ticket household 
items to gecekondus and rural households in exchange for 
their votes.  Despite this largesse, however, many gecekondu 
voters seem unusually quick to blame the ruling party for any 
deficiencies in their lives.  (NOTE: A poll by a well-known 
research company, Konda, indicates that neighborhoods where 
new migrants first settle do not support a single political 
party.  END NOTE)  Behiye Taskin told us she felt insulted 
when AKP members passed out basic needs goods (such as cake 
and pasta) in exchange for her vote.  Cake, she said, was 
something she could afford on her own. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) COMMENT:  TOKi President Erdogan Bayraktar ranks 
gecekondus as Turkey's third largest problem after terrorism 
and foreign debt.  Many gecekondu residents, however, take a 
different view and argue that the GOT is disturbing their way 
of life.  Urban transformation advocates continuously attempt 
to urbanize gecekondu residents, but face an uphill struggle. 
 Sincan Sub-province's Municipal Assembly Member, Orhan Kaya, 
a previous gecekondu resident himself, stressed the 
importance of education and alternative housing.  He 
recommended low-density housing, such as one- or two-level 
townhouses with enough yard space for a garden.  Cities like 
Ankara certainly have the space on the outskirts for such 
housing, but the overall costs would certainly be higher. 
For the moment, TOKi appears undeterred from building more 
high-rise apartments, creating a cycle that reinforces 
poverty and isolation. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
JEFFREY