ANKARA - Recycling worker, who is the target of the government, stated that the police and the city police had penalized them and said: ‘’This order must change.’’

 

The increasing economic crisis is deepening day by day with the policies of the government in favor of capital. In the country where most of the people live below the poverty line, those who are uncomfortable with living conditions, working conditions and unemployment become the target of the government. Recycling workers are also one of the segments that opposed the ban on waste collection and became a target.

 

In the past days, nearly 100 waste collection storages were raided by the governor’s decision in Istanbul’s Bakırköy and Ümraniye districts. During the raids, 240 paper collectors were penalized. Again, on October 6, in Ataşehir, Istanbul, police and city police teams concurrently raided the house and paper collection areas where the paper collectors were staying. Nearly 200 paper collectors were detained during the raids. Three recycling workers detained in Ümraniye were arrested for defending their raided storages. After Istanbul, paper collectors are faced with the same pressures in Ankara.

 

Recycling worker, whom we came across in the Seyranbağlar Neighborhood of Ankara’s Çankaya district, reacted to the government’s targeting of them and said: ‘’This order must change.’’

 

‘This order must change…’

 

The worker, who did not want to give her/his name when we met while collecting waste paper on the street, stated that her/his only livelihood was collecting paper. Adding to her/his words that life has become more difficult day by day due to the increasing economic crisis in Turkey, the worker said that the police and the city police had penalized them on the grounds of the coronavirus, and stated: ‘’This order must change.’’

 

‘What can I do other than this job?’

 

We meet Meral, who has been collecting paper for 25 years, on a different street. Saying that she and her husband collected papers and lost her husband two years ago, Meral stated: ‘’I am a woman who lives alone, I try to make a living by doing this job. I am 54-year-old, what else can I do after this age? I try to make a living by collecting cardboard, plastic.’’

 

‘I do not feel safe’

 

Meral, who stated that many women like herself collect paper, underlined that people do this job out of necessity and said: ‘’It is very difficult for people to make a living with this job. Living conditions are not easy. I earn around 1600 (TR) a month from this job. My house rent is 500 TR. When it is calculated together with the bills, I have a very small amount left. I don't go out a lot during the day, I have to go out more in the evening. I usually work until 21:00 in the evening. But as a woman, I do not feel safe when I go out to work in the evening. I am subject to a lot of harassment. I have not been subjected to any attack, but there is no guarantee of that, I have no life safety.’’

‘I do not expect anything from anyone’

 

Being aware of the pressures on recycling workers, Meral finally said the following words: ‘’I have no other income. I do not want anything from power, from anyone else. I want help, but from whom can I ask? That is why I do not trust anyone. I do not have any expectations from anyone. I have diabetes and asthma. Due to my illness, I have to eat healthily, but I cannot. I was able to take the medicine I used for my diabetes because I had a report.’’