They went to İSKİ to seek their rights, they were kicked out by security

It has reached a point where, in this country, if you want to do business with official permits and state approval, it is impossible; if you are going to build, it must be illegal, if you are going to do business, it must be off the books, if you are going to employ someone, you have to bypass official authorities, otherwise you get into trouble.

Now, here is an example for you.

There is an area 50 km outside of Istanbul called 'Durusupark'. A businessman once bought a 5,000-dönüm area, divided it into plots of three or five dönüms, drew up a villa project with large gardens, and then sold them one by one. Houses were built on some of these plots, while others remained empty. However, as regulations changed over the years, those who did not build in time or could not manage to do so illegally found their hands tied. Each of the landowners has 3 or 5 dönüms of land, and their title deeds record them as two-story villas, yet they cannot even build a chicken coop on them, and this has been the case for 20 years. Meanwhile, the villas built by those who found the right 'connections' stand firm, while the neighboring landowners just watch, and on top of that, they pay the site dues that the residents benefit from. 

Nearly 300 landowners have applied to the Arnavutköy Municipality, the Metropolitan Municipality, İSKİ, and everywhere else, including CİMER, countless times over the last 20 years to solve the problem and obtain building permits, but everyone passes the buck, and the problem remains unresolved. 

The landowners have even formed an association among themselves, and Durusupark Association President Ahmet Atar is going door to door to seek the rights of the members. 

President Ahmet Atar recently took a group of members with him and first went to the Arnavutköy Municipality. The officials there, while not exactly eager to find a solution themselves, passed the buck to İSKİ, claiming that the problem stemmed from İSKİ and that İSKİ was the obstacle to the building permit; they said if İSKİ gave approval, they would grant the permit immediately. Indeed, in an official letter written to the Arnavutköy Municipality at the beginning of last month, İSKİ had explicitly opposed the zoning.

Upon this, Association President Ahmet Atar and some members made an appointment to visit İSKİ Deputy General Manager Mahmut Kahraman. This was because it was Mr. Mahmut's signature on the İSKİ letter that said 'No'. An association member described what happened during this meeting as follows:

"Together with President Ahmet Atar, about 10 of us went to Mr. Mahmut's office. He came out, and the association president explained the problem. Mr. Mahmut acted as if he knew nothing about the issue and asked questions, even though he was the one who had written and sent the official letter just a few days before this meeting. Our Association President, Mr. Ahmet, said they were asking for help from İSKİ, that they were ready to do whatever was necessary, and that if a solution path were shown, they would cooperate with İSKİ; he asked for assistance. Deputy General Manager Mr. Mahmut did not mention the official letter he had signed and sent just a few days earlier, which blocked any solution, and acted as if he didn't know about it. He sent us to the adjacent building, saying, 'I will have the matter looked into. Let me direct you to my department head who knows about this issue, let him look at it.' As a delegation, while we were looking for the department head in another building within İSKİ's massive facilities, we encountered the European Wastewater Construction Branch Manager, Mr. Kamber, because the department head we were supposed to meet was on leave. Mr. Kamber said from the very beginning that this was not his subject. In short, we suddenly found ourselves in a meeting with a manager at İSKİ who had nothing to do with the issue. Meanwhile, Mr. Kamber called two of his colleagues who he said were related to the subject. During the meeting, Mr. Kamber had no answer to the questions from the association president and members asking, 'show us a solution.' Eventually, as no positive words were exchanged during the meeting, which lasted perhaps an hour, the atmosphere became tense. When Association President Mr. Ahmet Atar spoke in a slightly raised voice, saying, 'Help us, give us our rights, we have been waiting for 20 years, who will solve our problem?', Mr. Kamber also raised his voice. People came from the neighboring rooms, and suddenly security guards filled the manager's office, while the manager himself and his assistants disappeared. In the end, the security guards removed Association President Mr. Ahmet and us, his friends, first from the office and then from the building. In short, we were kicked out while asking for a solution to a 20-year-old problem and seeking our rights at İSKİ."

So, is what the association president and the landowners want something illegal that causes so much trouble? The same association member gave this answer to that question:

"No, our plots are already three or five dönüms. A shopping mall could even fit into a five-dönüm area, but we don't want that. What we want is the 5 percent zoning permit that was granted 20 years ago, as written in our title deeds when we bought the land. We are satisfied with that; we are not going to erect apartment buildings or giant structures there. İSKİ says there is a stream there, don't build houses near the stream. Well, we say okay, we won't build there anyway. Let's build where you tell us to; you designate the place where we can build the house, and we will build it there, but they still don't give permission. Istanbul is under earthquake risk; we want to build small houses on our 5-dönüm plots outside of Istanbul, but we cannot get permission for this, while those who have built illegal constructions over time through bribery and finding the right connections are sitting in their homes like kings."

In short, that is how the citizens were removed from İSKİ. After the incident, the İSKİ administrators realized the shame of kicking out the citizens and sent a message to Association President Ahmet Atar through the İSKİ Arnavutköy Branch Manager on the same day, saying, "We apologize for that unpleasant situation today"; meaning they know very well that the event that took place was unpleasant.

The British have a television program called 'Grand Designs', where it is explained one by one how houses are built and how building permits are obtained in England. In civilized countries, if you own land and want to build a house on it, and if you have this right, you apply to the official place without the need for bribery, intermediaries, nepotism, or a politician acquaintance; they set the conditions and pave the way for you. In fact, in one program I watched, a building permit was initially not granted for a plot full of trees, but after the landowner proved that they would not damage the tree roots by driving in iron piles, they were granted a building permit for a huge structure, like a treehouse, on top of the piles. You cannot even imagine such a thing in Turkey.

Cengiz Solakoğlu, an 80-year-old businessman who served at very high levels in Koç Holding for years, said in an interview, “I have reached this age, and unfortunately, to do certain things in Turkey, the principle of ‘find your man, if you can’t find your man, find his wife,’ as the late Celal Şahin said, applies.” 

Think about it; this is what a former top executive of Turkey's largest and most successful company says. If even Koç Holding, which employs one hundred thousand people, is in this state, you can imagine the situation of the ordinary citizen, the landowners in Durusupark, and the neglected public.

When one writes about İSKİ, the late Levent Kırca's İSKİ sketches come to mind; if you can find them on the internet, watch them and laugh; what a great artist he was.