Relocation without Rights in Turkey: the Impact of Urban Transformation on Bağlarbaşı's Romani Residents

18 December 2025

Following the devastating 1999 Marmara Earthquake in Turkey, a raft of legislation for urban renewal projects was passed following public outcry against shoddy private contractors in the construction sector, and public officials who had refused to enforce building codes regarding earthquake-resistant designs. For Roma, urban transformation did not make their lives safer but instead led to forced displacement, gentrification, and human rights violations.

This report is based on monitoring visits to the Bağlarbaşı neighbourhood of Yalova carried out by activists from the ERRC's partner, Romani Godi, in December 2023 and June 2024. It shows that that the needs of Romani residents  have not been adequately considered - neither in prefabricated living areas, nor within the neighbourhood itself. The report details how urban transformation is unfolding without meaningful consultation, leaving residents without safe, dignified, or sustainable housing solutions and leading to extreme cases of environmental racism in the conditions that these families are forced to endure.

The report, Relocation without Rights in Turkey: the Impact of Urban Transformation on Bağlarbaşı's Romani Residents, is an adapted translation of a field report originally in written in Turkish by Romani Godi and is available to download in English here.