A neighborhood in Kayseri to boycott local elections

Sarımsaklı neighborhood residents have announced that they will not go to the polls in the local elections to be held on March 31, claiming that no services have been provided to their neighborhood for years.

Stating that even their drinking water is undrinkable due to its odor, the residents held a protest, declaring that they would not vote unless services were provided to their neighborhood.

"NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD SINCE 2018"

Can Öcal, one of the residents who said that their population is constantly declining due to the lack of services in their neighborhood, said, "Our Sarımsaklı neighborhood is actually a developed neighborhood. It is a very scattered neighborhood in terms of settlement, but it has over 400-500 households. However, the number of people living here is decreasing. Our neighborhood is gradually falling below zero. The reason for this is that people have no zoning, no natural gas. There is no proper drinking water. Because of this, they migrate to the city because they do not want to live here. We say that everyone should live on our lands. Everyone should be able to sustain themselves here. Municipalities always promise this, but nothing has been done for our neighborhood since 2018. Our villagers cannot even drink their drinking water. I mean, we don't even have a place to sit, like where the villagers have gathered right now. Because of this, our villagers say, 'We will not vote. We want services. Why should we vote if there is no service?' They express this all the time. Our demand is that there should be no migration from this village. Everyone should come back and settle in our village," he said.

Another resident, Perihan Taştan, said, "They only come in the summer, feed us ice cream and doner, and leave. We don't want these. We want to drink our water properly, we want natural gas. We want our deficiencies to be completed. Small villages have natural gas, but we have nothing. If there is nothing like this, there is no vote either. I am not thinking of voting. If something is done, why wouldn't I vote?" she said.

"IT IS A SHAMEFUL THING FOR TURKEY"

Consumers Union President Mahmut Şahin also stated that they are wherever there is a struggle for rights, and continued his words as follows:

“We heard that there is a struggle for rights in Sarımsaklı as well. These requests are natural requests that the municipality should fulfill without the citizens having to ask for them. Why should I have to ask? As a municipality, don't you know? There is no zoning here. There is a natural gas line passing right by it, but there is no natural gas here. It is an absurd situation. It is a shameful thing for Turkey that people in Sarımsaklı, which is right next to Kayseri and should be a recreational area but has become a place that is being lost, are pouring into the streets and saying, 'If there is no service, there is no vote.'"

News Source: İHA