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Turkey's invisible but growing problem: 100,000 homeless people

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During my university years, the late Prof. Orhan Tuna used to say, "The number of unemployed people in this country is unknown, because to know the true number of unemployed, you would need to pay them a salary and register them, but we don't have that in our country."

In the years that have passed, unemployment benefits have started to be paid, but we still cannot know the true number of unemployed people because the state's official statistics agency wants us not to learn the real number of unemployed, rather than helping us learn it; that is why even if you ask experts, they cannot give you a clear answer.

Another group of people in Turkey whose numbers are unknown and who are unfortunately at the very bottom of society are the homeless, that is, those living on the streets.

If you ask politicians who boast about punching their opponents in Parliament, they will say, "There is no such thing as homelessness in Turkey," but the reality is, of course, not like that; it is estimated that 100,000 people are living on the streets. Since no aid is provided to these homeless people and no salary is paid, we do not know their true number either; the figure of 100,000 is provided by the Şefkat Association, which works on this issue.

They state that 10,000 of these 100,000 people live in Istanbul.

ŞefkatDer President Hayrettin Bulan said that the number of homeless people will increase even further, especially with the conclusion of thousands of eviction lawsuits, and continued as follows:

"There are also hidden homeless people in Turkey; these are those who have lost their homes, especially due to the negative impact of the economic crisis, and have had to take shelter in the home of a relative; these should also be counted as hidden homeless."

It is not difficult to predict that the current economic conditions are negatively affecting people and that eviction lawsuits will leave more people homeless.

There is no official institution working on the number of homeless people; only during the very cold days of winter do municipalities gather those living on the streets in certain places, but even they have only been counted once, and their number was determined to be 3,500.

In short, the state has no official data on this subject, and there is no official institution that deals with the homeless.

It is even said that homeless women are not accepted into women's shelters established by the state for women who have been subjected to violence; it is claimed that women who go to such shelters because they are homeless are asked to prove that they have been subjected to violence, and if there is no documentation, they are not admitted.

There is something even worse: Disabled people who are homeless cannot receive disability benefits from the state because they cannot provide a registered address. It is a complete comedy, but during the pandemic, it was reported in the news that some homeless people living on the streets were fined for violating the curfew.

If you ask how the homelessness problem is solved in developed Western countries, let us first say that aid is provided to them in order to determine their numbers. For example, in America, where the homeless are most visible, the state's obligation to provide shelter for every homeless person is considered a constitutional right, and therefore records and figures regarding the homeless are known.

In Turkey, the only organization that deals with and thinks about the homeless is the Şefkat Association; in fact, when you research the subject on the internet, this association stands out. The association has 32 official members and about 100 volunteers. The association president says that they rent houses within their means and allocate them to the homeless, but they are also troubled due to the rental problems in recent years; landlords are demanding the eviction of the houses.

Whichever area you touch, you see that there are major problems; the homeless are also a subject in Turkey that is not noticed, not talked about, and only comes to the agenda if someone freezes to death on the street in very cold weather.

It is incomprehensible that the country does not even keep a record of its citizens, who are said to number 100,000.