The Gentrification of Tarlabasi

From Hurriyet Daily News:

Evictions and resettlement from municipal urban transformation projects are spreading from historical areas in Fatih to Beyoğlu’s infamous Tarlabaşı, where some renters and property owners are worried about what an expert is calling another gentrification process.

The “Tarlabaşı Renewal Project” started in the central Istanbul neighborhood on April 4, 2007, when its tender was given to Çalık Holding’s GAP Construction Company. Property owners said the tender was offered without their permission or consultation about the future of the buildings. Owners have formed the “Association for Solidarity with Tarlabaşı Property Owners and Renters.”

Ahmet Gün, head of the association, said he submitted a file to the European Court of Human Rights against the renewal project, saying it was a violation of the right to own property.

According to the Beyoglu municipality, those residents who do not accept an agreement with the investors leading the project will have their homes expropriated. See Jenny White's blog, Kamil Pasha, "for a litany of destruction and decay in mostly minority neighborhoods and professions."