Reactions growing to demolition of family home

People from various rights groups and foundations have leveled harsh criticism at the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality after municipality workers demolished a prefabricated shelter in land belonging to the Hizmet-affiliated Mehtap Education Foundation, leaving a guard and his family -- including a disabled girl -- homeless.

The workers and officials from the municipality controlled by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) illegally demolished the building in the Sarıyer district of İstanbul on Friday, despite lacking official permission to carry out the demolition.

The officials claimed that the shelter did not have official permission to be built, prompting Mehtap Education Foundation head Mustafa Başaran to dispute the municipality's argument, saying that the land belongs to the foundation and that prefabricated shelters do not require a license for construction, according to the law regulating construction business and affairs.

The demolition took place without prior warning as municipal officials made a brief visit to the site and ordered workers to pull the building down without having informed the foundation and without any official permission to carry out the operation.

Even though the shelter lacks an official license, said Şükrü Boyraz, chairman of the Handicapped Association of Turkey, there should have been a legal investigation before destroying the guard's house, leaving him and his family homeless. The tragedy the family faces following the municipality's demolition of the shelter -- which was installed by the Foundation for the guard and his family to safeguard the area -- has sparked public outrage, leading to severe criticism of the politically motivated move by the municipality's Boğaziçi Zoning Directorate.

The incident came amid mounting signs of a possible government crackdown on the faith-based Hizmet movement, inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to root out the "parallel structure" from state institutions. Erdoğan lays the blame for the Dec. 17 corruption probe that implicated some of his close associates and his own family on Hizmet, a claim firmly rejected by the movement.

For Mustafa Yeşil, chairman of the Journalists and Writers Foundation's (GYV) executive board, the demolition of a building located on land owned by a Hizmet-affiliated organization reflects how the polarizing language of the government has deeply permeated all layers of Turkish society, creating divisions among social groups.

"The destruction of someone's residence is unconscionable," Boyraz said, referring to the Eş family, which has been left homeless along with their disabled 27-year-old daughter Güldane Eş. The photo of the destructed house, with the father and mother trying to reassure their daughters, has sent shockwaves across the country.

Sarıyer Mayor Şükrü Genç has pledged to help the family.

Published on Sunday's Zaman, 20 April 2014, Sunday