Amendment to the urban transformation law

Ezgi SİVRİTEPE /12punto.com.tr

The Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on the Transformation of Areas Under Disaster Risk and Certain Other Laws and Decree-Law No. 375 was accepted in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). With the acceptance of the proposal, the duration for discovery and expert examination has been shortened. Accordingly, the court is required to make a decision within 15 days. With the acceptance of the law containing the urban transformation regulation, citizens were faced with the anxiety of "will I be left homeless?"

Lawyer Kazım Yiğit Akalın evaluated the latest change in urban transformation for 12punto.com.tr.

THE PROCESS CANNOT BE COMPLETED IN 15 DAYS

Lawyer Akalın emphasized that the entire process cannot be completed in 15 days, that only the administrative judicial process in general has been accelerated with Article 2, and that the court must make a decision within 15 days after all procedures such as expert examination and discovery are completed. Akalın said, "this change is limited to the disaster zone, it is not valid for all of Turkey."

Stating that law enforcement officers have the right to intervene if the citizen does not want to leave their home, Akalın said, "We can say that there are quite a lot of examples of forced eviction in Turkey after the given eviction period has expired. Consequently, if an eviction decision has been made and it is final, there is no law that legally protects the citizen from intervention."

LAW AND PRACTICE ARE DIFFERENT

Stating that urban transformation is a long process and that Article 5 of Law No. 6306 requires the allocation of housing and workplaces or rental assistance for the residents of residences undergoing urban transformation, Akalın said, "In practice, we only see rental assistance. Furthermore, although it is stated in the law that tenants and others, as well as homeowners, can benefit from rental assistance, we see that in practice, rental assistance is only provided to homeowners and that this assistance is not realistic in terms of amount and remains very low."

News Source: Ezgi Sivritepe