Turkey: Newly constructed buildings in Diyarbakir"s Sur likened to prison

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New buildings that were constructed at a site listed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, in Diyarbakir’s Sur district, were likened to a prison.

Chairman of the Diyarbakir Branch of the Chamber of Architects, Ferit Kahraman, said on Monday that a total of 3,569 buildings were demolished in the six neighbourhoods where a ban was declared.

“Among them, 89 were registered structures. The newly built houses have nothing to do, by far, with the old traditional ones. There are no families who have come and settled in the new structures at the moment,” he explained.

“As the works progress, the destruction in the area increases. Remains that can be preserved in the area and transferred to the future are gradually being destroyed. It is imperative that these works be stopped at once,” he continued.

A local who used to live in Sur said he was forced out when his house was destroyed in 2016.

“After that, we went and stayed on rent for a few months. We looked at it, we can’t do it on rent. Rents are already too expensive. You can’t find a rental house anyway, because they’ve all been demolished. There was no empty rental house, we found it with difficulty,” he shared.

A 2015 entry ban, where several districts were cordoned off with iron barriers, was declared following clashes between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the Turkish Armed Forces.

Homes in the area were demolished and replaced under the coordination Ministry of Environment and Urbanization of Turkey.

SOT, Ferit Kahraman, Chairman of Diyarbakir Chamber of Architects (Turkish): “In the six streets where the bans existed, 3,569 buildings were demolished. Among them, 89 were registered structures. The newly built houses have nothing to do, by far, with the old traditional ones. There are no families who have come and settled in the new structures at the moment.”

SOT, Ferit Kahraman, Chairman of Diyarbakir Chamber of Architects (Turkish): “As the works progress, the destruction in the area increases. Remains that can be preserved in the area and transferred to the future are gradually being destroyed. It is imperative that these works be stopped at once, even in their current state, and that a participatory process is run on them, and that the traditional texture, the cultural heritage, the original state that has been present for 1,000 years, is operated and these works are continued.”

SOT, Tradesman (Turkish): “We were living in Sur. Our houses were destroyed in 2016. We were forced out of here. After that, we went and stayed on rent for a few months. We looked at it, we can’t do it on rent. Rents are already too expensive. You can’t find a rental house anyway, because they’ve all been demolished. There was no empty rental house, we found it with difficulty.”

SOT, Tradesman (Turkish): “There were seven acres of gardens, it was enclosed We had our own garden. Our house was in it. The house was destroyed. Now we went to a normal flat. It is very difficult for us, we cannot do it in concrete. We can’t get out of here. We have been coming here every day for five-six years. We open our eyes in the morning and we come here. In the evening we return home again. We come here again because we were born and raised here. This place attracts us, only the ones who lived it know it.”

SOT, Tradesman (Turkish): “Now, when we look there, we will see old houses, old houses will come to our minds. These new builds are not at all reminiscent of the others. Imagine another house in the same place, one cannot live (like this). The houses are not nicely built either. Even if it is given to us, we cannot buy it anyway, how many trillions of money do they want. But even if given, we cannot live there.”

#Turkey #Diyarbakir #Architecture

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