Once upon a time, Turkey was a country of the middle class raising children in the same garden and walking to the future on the same sidewalk. Today, concrete is rising, but society is falling.<\/b><\/p>\n
To understand this story, we need to go back a bit.<\/span><\/p>\n When we look at Turkey's political history, we see that the left and right-wing governments had fierce debates with each other on many issues. But there was one issue on which no matter who came to power, they would agree on the same point: <\/span>Keeping the central pillar standing.<\/b> Because those shoulders have always carried the burden and hope of this country.<\/span><\/p>\n In the 1980s, not only wages but also dreams were more accessible.<\/span> But all these buildings were not just concrete blocks; they were an ideal of life.<\/span><\/p>\n People from Edirne and Kars became neighbors in the same housing complex. Sinopites and Mersinites raised children in the same park. People from Izmir and people from Van drank tea in the same garden. People are not just a house; <\/span>equality, solidarity and trust<\/b> buying them. Cooperative estates were Turkey's most natural self-created spaces of social cohesion.<\/span><\/p>\n It is a big mistake to see the middle class as a purely economic category.<\/span> Over time, this middle class has become the country's <\/span>social load-bearing column<\/b> has become.<\/span> However, this strong structure did not last long.<\/span><\/p>\n TOK\u0130, which was established to support cooperatives, has become a competitor rather than an alternative to cooperatives. The low-cost economy of solidarity was replaced by revenue sharing protocols. As the sense of community disappeared in the shadow of high walls, social mixing turned into invisible class barriers.<\/span><\/p>\n (Earthquake housing should be kept separate in this table because it is the product of a different necessity).<\/span><\/p>\n Today, many social housing projects are located on the outskirts of cities, intertwined with the rural fabric, where poverty is made visible. <\/span>segregation zones<\/b> as a middle class. Instead of strengthening the middle class, this model creates a permanent underclass. Housing ceases to be a social right and becomes a new type of poverty, spatially stigmatized and surrounded by low opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n And in TOK\u0130's big projects, people entering through the same door don't even look at each other.<\/span> All this transformation has become even more evident through political preferences.<\/span> Let's face it:<\/span> Cooperatives showed us a society that was once possible:<\/span> Today, walls are thickening, balconies are closing, lives are drifting apart.<\/span> So it's not just about housing.<\/span> This is precisely why we are looking for an answer to an inevitable question:<\/span><\/p>\n Will we risk becoming a society again?<\/span> It is the social answer to this question that will determine our future.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bir zamanlar T\u00fcrkiye, ayn\u0131 bah\u00e7ede \u00e7ocuk b\u00fcy\u00fcten, ayn\u0131 kald\u0131r\u0131mdan gelece\u011fe y\u00fcr\u00fcyen orta s\u0131n\u0131f\u0131n \u00fclkesiydi. Bug\u00fcn beton y\u00fckseliyor, ama toplum al\u00e7al\u0131yor. Bu hik\u00e2yeyi anlamak i\u00e7in biraz geriye gitmek gerekiyor. T\u00fcrkiye\u2019nin siyasi tarihine bakt\u0131\u011f\u0131m\u0131zda, sa\u011f ve sol iktidarlar\u0131n pek \u00e7ok konuda birbirleriyle \u00e7etin tart\u0131\u015fmalar y\u00fcr\u00fctt\u00fc\u011f\u00fcn\u00fc g\u00f6r\u00fcr\u00fcz. Fakat bir ba\u015fl\u0131k vard\u0131 ki, kim gelirse gelsin ayn\u0131 noktada ortakla\u015f\u0131rd\u0131: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":280300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[286],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-280299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-yazarlar"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":280301,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280299\/revisions\/280301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/span>Husband and wife, a family of civil servants, a working couple, <\/span>through regular monthly payments from their salaries<\/b> knew that within years they could have a cooperative house. Symbols of this hope have risen all over Turkey: Bat\u0131kent in Ankara, Atak\u00f6y in Istanbul, Mersin Yeni\u015fehir, \u0130zmir Egekent-EVKA, Elaz\u0131\u011f Do\u011fukent, Erzurum Dada\u015fkent...<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>In these cities, crime rates were low and conflicts were rare because people formed bonds that were difficult to separate. They studied in the same schools, played in the same streets, grew up together. Friendships were formed, business partnerships were born, marriages took place. This way of life tied society together with invisible pillars.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>It was on this culture of solidarity that the nation-state sought to build a common future. It was precisely in these neighborhoods that the sociological leap created by the state's policies encouraging cooperatives became visible.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Balconies are covered with colored glass... Neighborhood is like a luxury... Even in the same complex, there are different worlds: one close to the sky, one in its shadow.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>This is where the difference between the role the government assigns to society by saying \u201ccharity is part of our culture\u201d and the \u201cwe will strengthen the middle class\u201d approach of the past emerges. At that time, the state was trying to empower its citizens without impoverishing them, whereas today, instead of sustaining the middle class, some policies <\/span>quietly melting<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>As a country loses its middle class, it does not only become poorer; <\/span>it loses its character.<\/b>
\n<\/span>Streets become quiet, neighborhoods die, the sense of a common future disappears.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>A strong society built by lives that touch each other...<\/span>
\n<\/span>A country of people who share the same table, grow up in the shade of the same tree, walk to the future on the same sidewalk...<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Concrete goes up, society goes down.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>The question is whether the middle class, which carries the memory of this country, can rise again.<\/b><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Or will we live in the same city and turn into a silent crowd that has given up even looking at each other's faces?<\/span><\/p>\n