Immigration Problem in Istanbul

The immigration problem has always been one of the most important debated issues in Turkey, especially after1950s. It makes big cities more crowded and it also brings many problems together. These problems include economic, social, and environmental issues. Particularly Istanbul is in a great danger with the huge rate of immigration it takes. The city has not enough area for sheltering its continuous growing population as it has not also enough resources to feed them. It is very unhealthy to enlarge as rapidly as Istanbul with immigration because it brings economic, environmental, and social problems.

Istanbul is the most urbanized and crowded city of Turkey. For almost 20 years, it takes internal migration with its economic and social opportunities; therefore, the city, which becomes one of the urbanized cities around the world, grows in an uncontrolled manner day by day. The population of Istanbul, which was not even 1 million in 1950, is now over 14 million. After a rapid industrialization, a high level of immigration is normal and unavoidable for cities and it has some advantages as providing labor force but the migration to Istanbul get over the limits. According to Istanbul Governorship’s data, over 62% of people who live in Istanbul were born outside of the city. Since it is common that Turkish families are crowded, most of immigrant families have more than two children generally. This year, the prime minister of Turkey, Tayyip Erdoğan advised the community to make at least three children in order to protect the nation’s young population, at the time of his speech about International Women’s day. The elite class of Turkey may not affected by these events but the rural side of Turkey, and the lower class of the cities, mostly immigrants are influenced by the people whom they see as their idol. According to the high fertility factor, the native Istanbul population has become a minority in their homeland (Erman 541). It causes many identity problems beside its social and economic aspect.

The mass migration to Istanbul caused economic problems such as inadequate shelter and unemployment. In “The Human Declaration on Human Settlements”, it is underlined that deterioration of conditions of shelter and human settlements particularly in developing countries has reached crisis proportion (591). As we know that Turkey is a developing country with its industrializing economy, the problems as I mentioned above are common in Turkey, especially in urbanized cities. Istanbul, the most industrialized city of Turkey, owns problems related to the excessive population concentration