The ongoing demolition in Istanbul's Tarlabaşı district in the name of a so called urban transformation mostly aggrieves poor renters who are forced to leave their houses but have nowhere to go.

Fifteen residents in the neighborhood of Çukur make a living by collecting paper and waste. They are still living in houses without glasses and doors, under the threat of being forced out of their houses at any time by the authorities and workers of GAP and subcontractor construction companies.

On May 21, 2013, they were threatened by two engineers involved in the so-called “ urban transformation” works going on in the area for the last two years. The engineers started to destroy a house yesterday, despite knowing about the presence of two people in the house, with one of them being İsmail Uzun who is seriously ill and confined to bed, facing the risk of gangrene. They demolished the first floor of the house regardless of Uzun who lives in the basement floor. The demolition of the house was suspended thanks to the efforts of Human Rights Association's Istanbul Branch. Residents of the neighborhood were therewith given time till Saturday to leave the houses.

Uzun, 56, almost lost his life yesterday under the wreckage of the house he is living in for 20 years now. He says the engineers of GAP construction company started to demolish the house with a face shovel despite knowing that he was inside. “These people are not human. They say they want to do something good but they are doing inhuman things. They nearly killed us with shovels in the cause of building a few commercial centers. However, nothing would happen if they killed us because we mean nothing more than poor people to them”, he says and tells that hospitals are also refusing to treat him because he has no money for the treatment of his improving health problems. “The PM said nobody would ever be aggrieved at hospitals but things do not work the way he speaks”, he says and expresses his concerns over what will happen when he has to have his legs cut some time later. He says all he wants is a room he can afford to rent.

One other victim of the so-called urban transformation is Fahrettin. When asked about his age, he says “I do not know about my age as I have never lived a proper life”. Fahrettin, who had been leading his life in his house till four months ago, tells the followings, “I could hardly take my bed outside the house when an officer from GAP company came to my house one day and forced me to leave it, threatening to burn it down. I collect empty boxes to earn my living.  The problem is the class discrimination which must be ended if they are talking about equality in the country. They intend to build commercial and shopping centers by displacing us from our houses”.

Forty-two years old Necmi Türker who has been living in the neighborhood since 1992 also makes a living by collecting paper. He says his life has completely changed since the beginning of the urban transformation project two years ago. He tells the followings, “After buying the houses we are living in from their owners,  Çalık construction company forced our neighbors to leave their houses. I stayed here because I have nowhere to go. GAP workers are coming here and threatening us every day with demolishing the houses while we are inside. They went further to start the demolition of the houses while people were inside. Thanks to the efforts of human rights defenders, they allowed us to stay here till Saturday, threatening us with getting us out of the houses by police force if we happened to continue staying there. Now that our financial situation doesn't allow us to go anywhere, they should offer us an alternative while demolishing our houses. We are living in ruined houses but we are being sent away from them too. What kind of a justice is this? I am ashamed of being a citizen of this country”.

One other victim is İbrahim who has been living in the neighborhood for 38 years now, also making his living by collecting paper. Living in this country is like a burden to İbrahim who has been alone since he lost his father last year. He says he has never been treated humanely in this country, expressing his feelings saying, “I would run away from here if any other country accepted me”.

He says he is not carrying his identity card with him for some time now and tells the reason as follows, “Seventeen years ago, I went to the registry office in Beyoğlu which told me that I needed to go to Kasımpaşa police headquarters first. When I went there, police officers didn't allow me into the building and insulted me because of the poor clothes I was wearing. That day, I promised myself not to carry my id card. I am witnessing the same attitude from the construction company today. They do not see us as human beings. They have their pockets full with money but they are setting their eye on the bread of the poor”.