We Can’t Access Accommodation: The Solution is a Comprehensive and Participatory Youth Policy

A week has passed in the park protests where university students protested the increasing rents and the lack of dormitories. Young people slept in parks in 11 provinces and say, ‘We cannot access accommodation’.

We talked with Güney Mengen from the Özgürlükçü Gençlik Hareketi (Libertarian Youth Movement) and Baran Şengül from the Gençlik Örgütleri Forumu (Youth Organizations Forum) about the housing problems and demands of university youth. Mengen states that one of the groups most affected by the economic crisis that the world is going through is university students. Baran Şengül reminded that the housing right is for everyone and states that the solution lies in the creation and implementation of a comprehensive and participatory youth policy.

‘First Education, Now We Are Deprived of Accommodation Opportunities’

Underlining that the pandemic has exacerbated the existing crisis, Mengen says that students who were not able to access the right to qualified education are now deprived of any right to education and adds: ‘University students who cannot access quality accommodation due to the insufficient dormitory and scholarship opportunities, as well as not being able to access education, cannot find houses today.’

Mengen, who stated that the protests carried out by the students in the parks in various provinces of Turkey for a week have received great support from the public, says this support is quite normal: ‘Park protests have received a great response from the public. Of course, this is not a coincidence, housing is the common problem of millions today. We have to give a social answer to a social problem. They tell people that our problem is not housing but other things. Some of us have houses, yes we have never hidden it, but while others live in villas and islands, we live in basement floor without seeing the sun and we do not accept this injustice.’

‘We Do Not Want to Pay for The Pandemic or the Economic Crisis’

Mengen explains that the problems that started at the beginning of the pandemic continue in a different way when in-class education is back: ‘The closure of universities and dormitories at the beginning of the pandemic forced us to leave the cities we live in suddenly. Now, when we return to the cities with the announcement of in-class education decisions, the economic crisis and the pandemic are almost inflicted on us university students. The exorbitant hikes in the rents of houses, apartments and private dormitories right after the announcement of the in-class education decision condemn us to crammed in opportunistic property owners, opportunistic real estate agents, cult dormitories, universities and small, damp houses away from the sun and cities. We no longer accept that both the pandemic and the economic crisis are being billed to us.’

According to Mengen, who said that the rent increases at least doubled with his own observations and the information he received from his surroundings, after the İzmir earthquake, rent prices started to increase in Izmir: ‘Houses that were 1000 TL before the pandemic became at least 2000 TL in the last 3 weeks. There is also a rase in İzmir, especially after the earthquake. In this state, students either have to stay in very bad houses or in damaged houses in the earthquake zone.’

Demands: Build New Dormitories, Increase Scholarships, Check Rent Increases

The demands of Güney Mengen and his fellow students, who continue their park protests for their housing needs, are as follows: ‘We demand that new dormitories to be opened, scholarships to be increased, house rents to be limited and inspected, and real estate commissions to be paid by the property owners.’

Eğitim-Sen: Dormitory Opportunity is the Basic Responsibility of the Social State

In its press release, Eğitim-Sen emphasized that education is not a privilege, but a fundamental human right, and that providing dormitories is one of the basic conditions of being a social state: ‘Ensuring that students with insufficient economic opportunities enjoy their right to receive education is one of the basic requirements of being a social state and the principles of social justice and equal opportunity. It is the basic responsibility of the social state to provide dormitories to all students who demand it at all levels, but especially in secondary and higher education. Education is not a privilege; it is a basic human right. Our students’ right to food and housing where they can live humanely is a constitutional right and a public responsibility.’

‘Private Dormitories and Landlords Are Trying to Turn the Crisis into an Opportunity’

Youth Organizations Forum Project Assistant Baran Şengül says that in the background of the ongoing park protests, life has become more expensive in general due to the economic crisis, the ongoing increases in house rents and private dormitory fees, and the lack of capacity in state dormitories provided for youth/students. Baran Sengul says that ‘During the pandemic, students/young people who had to leave their homes and often return to their families, sometimes due to financial reasons and sometimes due to the closure of the dormitories, came to the cities where they were/study. While the inadequacy of the dormitories offered by the government pushes tens of thousands of students and young people to seek alternatives, the private dormitories and the real estate market seem to have turned the increasing demand into an opportunity.’

Expressing that young people are seriously affected by the already expensive life and the unequal conditions exacerbated by the pandemic, Şengül explains the steps taken by the Youth Organizations Forum (GoFor) with the following words: ‘GoFor implemented the Covid Problem Map at covid.go-for.org to map the rights violations experienced in this process and started monitoring the violations. There were young individuals who stated that they were evicted from the house due to the violation of the housing right, and that they had to pay for the house/dormitory even though they could not stay. The situation worsened with the opening of schools. Youth movements, drawing attention to the housing problem, made the current situation and its worsening with the opening of universities in September-October highly visible and loudly voiced their demands for a solution to this problem.’

Baran Şengül is among those who participated in the park protests. He tells about his experiences as follows: “Since the first days of the movement’s emergence, I have been watching the events on my own initiative by being in the parks. Together with my teammates, we actively follow social media. On September 27, the right of youth to assemble and demonstrate in various cities across Turkey was violated through police intervention. I was unlawfully detained together with my other friends in the park at the İzmir Karşıyaka leg of these interventions.”

Housing Right is for Everyone

GoFor also has a youth rights statement published on its social media account. Youth Rights include the right to shelter. Şengül first defines the right to shelter and then lists the titles it includes: ‘The housing right is considered in the context of having adequate standards for the health and well-being of the individual and his/her family, and includes:

• Access to adequate and affordable housing for all
• Reducing and ultimately eliminating homelessness
• Establishment of housing policies targeting all disadvantaged categories
• Limitation of forced evictions
• Ensuring equal access to social housing and housing benefits for non-citizens’

Situations in which housing right is violated are as follows: ‘High rates of homelessness among young people compared to adults, inequality in the amount of rent experienced by students, not renting a house to young people, forced eviction, expulsion from the dormitory and similar situations constitute violations of the right to housing. The fact that rent and private dormitory fees are not subject to control within the framework of fair competition conditions and access to the right to housing, paves the way for uncontrolled increases here. Since the differences between the last tenant and the new tenant are determined without being subject to the inflation rates, the fees have suddenly started to rise with mass student returns. Along with these, the financial burdens on young people and other difficulties brought by this situation are placed on young people and their families despite their claim to offer free higher education opportunities.’

‘Dormitory Rules Are Used Against Women and LGBTI+’

Şengül states that not being able to access the housing right affects different groups in different ways, and states that there are young people who cannot continue their education because they do not have this right: ‘Not being able to access the right to shelter brings with it the inability to access the right to education. We hear that there are young people who cannot go to the city where they study because they cannot find a place to stay and therefore cannot go to university. The situation of these young people requires acute and urgent action. There are other dimensions to the problem of young women’s lack of housing, which should be considered. Dormitories attract families with the control of entry and exit times and the tracking systems that inform the parents regardless of the person’s adult status. These mechanisms, which are mostly carried out by unwritten agreements between families and private dormitories, turn into a serious trump card in the hands of dormitory administrations in wage bargaining. We know that the regulations regarding dormitories do not cover LGBTI+ individuals either. Housing problems of LGBTI individuals also require unique solutions and policies.’

While listing the demands of the youth, Şengül invites everyone, whether they are students or not, to bring this issue up and to stand by the students:

‘We can describe the demands of young people with the following items:

• Provide rent support to students
• Increase rent controls; prevent uncontrolled wage increases. Let the wage increase between the last tenant and the new tenant be subject to the wholesale and consumer price index
• It should be prevented that young people/students are exposed to discrimination in renting a house.
• Develop special and urgent solutions for young people who will be deprived of their right to education because they cannot find a home/dormitory.
• Increase the amount and number of scholarships
• Private dormitory fees should be inspected, the fees of private dormitories on campus should be reduced to KYK (Credit and Dormitory Institution) level with government support or upper limits should be determined.
• Provide financial support to student houses
• Let local governments allocate their housing stock as dormitories to students.
• Everyone, should bring this issue to the agenda in the places where they work and organize and take actions that show that they are on the side of the student.’

‘A Comprehensive and Participatory Youth Policy Should Be Determined’

‘The solution to the problem falls to the central government, as frequently expressed by the activists. According to GoFor, the solution lies in the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive and participatory youth policy. The housing right, education rights and all other rights cannot be considered separately. Youth policy ensures that all issues concerning housing and other young people are addressed holistically based on rights. In the parks, young people not only make this problem visible, but also propose policy solutions. Young people have the capacity to produce solutions not only for housing but also for many of the difficulties they face. Today, it is they who make this problem visible and who come with claims. It is our greatest need for a youth policy that reflects solutions to this issue and other rights.’