Tenants protest again against rent hike

SHAFAQNA Türkiye – Tenants in Antalya have once again protested against the rise in rental prices in the recent period.

Members of the Tenant Solidarity Platform gathered at Variant in Antalya took to Cumhuriyet Square to protest the exorbitant rent.

The tenants said they want the rights given to Syrian immigrants to be transferred to citizens.

Cengiz Kul, a member of the Tenant Solidarity Platform, made a press statement after the march and said:

– As we always say, a day passes so that a new drama does not occur in a new event. In Mersin, a tenant fired 8 bullets at a landlord due to violations, in Antalya, a family stays on the street due to high rent, the landlord’s father and 2 of his sons beat the tenant to death, and there are events that we cannot explain.

– The government is talking about a 25 percent surcharge to solve the problem, the mediator says, but this is not a solution, but rather, it is to set the tenant-landlord against each other.

– Until now, the 25% WPI-CPI has not been respected, it has remained only on paper. Moreover, the landowners threw us low-income citizens out into the street by a court decision on an extract from the eviction, and then we will be expelled.

“WE ARE LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL JOB PLUS TIME TO PAY AN APARTMENT FOR NORTHERN INCOME CITIZENS”

Cengiz Kul stated that, as low-income citizens, they were forced to work as slaves for minimum wage or wages close to it.

They never pay slaves enough to keep them free. You give them enough to survive so we can keep going.

– We, low-income citizens, are looking for overtime work plus additional work to pay rent. Now I ask in front of everyone; Under these conditions, how should we provide our children with food, clothing and a future? Society is disappearing, production is waning, consumption is skyrocketing, taxes are rising, injustice is spreading, hopes are being dashed, immigration is accelerating.

The worst thing is to ignore such experiences. As a Tenant Solidarity Platform, we are demanding that our government either regulate the minimum wage or bring high rents up to what we can pay, that is, up to one quarter of the minimum wage.

“We have neither the patience nor the money to pay these rents. Obviously, we low-income citizens want laws.

“EVERY DAY THE FAMILY GOES OUT WITH THE CHILDREN”

Speaking after Cengiz Kul, Tenant Solidarity Platform member Seda Kul also said:

We constantly meet on this square, we see that the promises made before the elections are still not being fulfilled. Those who legislate overnight when they have their own interests turn a blind eye to their problems while the people they govern die.

Every day a family is thrown out into the street with their children until they are happy. Let’s say stop this trend now so no one else gets hurt.

– The biggest factor here is real estate agents who hurt us the most and raise prices for high commissions after foreign immigration.

-The real estate sector is currently in decline due to undocumented unregistered real estate agents not being audited.

– Even the local headman has problems with real estate and commissions. Many of us are looking for a home day and night but cannot find a home due to the real estate sector and adventurers.

“WE WANT TO ANNOUNCE TO THE PUBLIC THAT WE ARE GOING TO ANKARA”

– There used to be a saying: “Not one of us who slept while his neighbor was hungry.” What happened now when everyone closes their eyes and ears, and his neighbor is lying on the street, – said Cool and continued:

– Children got scared every time they knocked on the door instead of playing games. We want to raise our children in a healthy and peaceful environment.

– We no longer want to console ourselves with a band-aid, we want to use our right to live freely under the auspices of our state with real decisions and laws.

– We want to go back a few years, not too far, to show that we can live with minimum wages and pensions.

– We want to stay with the landlords as a family, not as an enemy, and we think that the solution is in our government. If this problem is not resolved as soon as possible, we want to announce to the public that we will go to Ankara.

“SHOULD YOU GO TO THE LOW-INCOME STREET?”

Sherife Yavuz, a member of the Tenant Solidarity Platform, said:

– Due to the current economic crisis, everything necessary to sustain human life, such as food, clothing and shelter, has been increased by more than 500 percent. This situation brought landlords and tenants face to face.

– The biggest trump card landlords have against us, tenants, is that they demand high rents, showing high inflation.

– Yes, inflation is very high, we understand this, they also have their own justifications, but in this case we would like to remind you that low-income, minimum wage, pensioners are also crushed by inflation.

– We expect rent assistance to be provided to civil servants, to us, the low-income, working on the minimum wage and pensioners. Landlords now prefer civil servants or foreigners when renting their property, they don’t even open their doors to us.

– We can’t find a house to live in. The rental problem exists all over the country, and we look forward to its solution.

“IF YOU DO NOT SELL OUR COUNTRY PARCE PARCE TO FOREIGNERS…”

Speaking about how the relationship between a landlord and a tenant was familial in the past, Yavuz said: “Today the killer is either the landlord or the landlord. Dear authorities, who have put us in this position and are setting brother against brother, neither these fights will stop, nor will people have peace while you are selling our country a pack to foreigners. Stop foreign immigration as soon as possible. I want to live like a human being in my country, on my land, in short, in the Republic of Turkey.”