EUROPEUS

We know about the ongoing �regeneration� works by the municipality around the Süleymaniye Mosque. And now similar works in the Sulukule district are on the agenda. Demolition as part of the regeneration process and buildings planned in pseudo-Ottoman style give the impression that someone is busy working to make certain that the historic peninsula be pushed out of the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 

These activities are based on law no. 5366, �Renovation and Utilization of Deteriorated Cultural Properties.� Experts however, discuss how this law endangers historic and culture values of the city contrary to its aim, let alone the preservation. The code targets in particular neighborhoods �not going through a healthy development.� Hence the city will undergo a thorough operation soon.

A world-class city? In an interview with the weekly Economist in November the head of the Mass Housing Administration (TOKİ), Erdoğan Bayraktar, gave the �good news� that 80 percent of Istanbul will be demolished and re-constructed. �There are 20 main slum regions in Istanbul waiting for demolition in the first place. The historic peninsula called �Old Istanbul,' in addition to the districts of Fatih and Eminönü, needs serious works of renewal; Küçük Langa, Kadırga, the lower part of Unkapanı and Manifaturacılar Çarşısı need immediate renewals. In addition, Sulukule, Karagümrük and Küçükmustafapaşa in the district of Fatih; Hacı Hüsrev in Beyoğlu are extremely dangerous. People from various parts of Turkey as well as dark-skinned citizens (sic) live in these regions,� he said.

As you read, the aim of this operation is quite obvious: Cleansing the city of tumors, so to speak. The project aims not to provide quakeproof houses or better living conditions for people. If that were the case, social housing projects would have been planned exclusively for them. In fact, inhabitants of these neighborhoods cannot afford the houses TOKİ provides. They will be sent to some other places. The first party to be sent off are the residents of Sulukule, who will be moved to Taşoluk in the Thrace region. One does not have to be a fortune teller to know that there will be no mercy for anyone along the way during this huge land and property speculation venture.

In a way, after the conquest of Istanbul in 1453, its final conquest is taking shape. We are witnessing the creation of a Muslim city reproducing the �petro cities� of the Gulf, which no longer have any elements to recall their Byzantine history, the non-Muslim or non-Turk, are cleansed of the poor, filled with flags and high-rise buildings and stuffed with imitation Ottoman neighborhoods. This �New Istanbul� is the true opposite of the cosmopolitan city shaped by Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror. And of course such a city has nothing to do with UNESCO or other recognized international principles pertaining to urbanism and cultural heritage.

I wish you all a happy New Year that looks to be full of challenges and difficulties here and abroad.

Cengiz is head of the EU Research Center of the Bahcesehir University - Istanbul