ANKARA - While the AKP’s President Erdoğan, who accused the students of lying by claiming that there is no housing problem in universities, was refuted by the Ministry of National Education datas. We conducted research in Ankara on the capacities of student dormitories. We found out that there were no places in the 35 private dormitories we called.

 

With the universities starting face-to-face education, many students who went to different cities faced high house rents and dormitory fees. Students stayed on the streets because the Credit and Dormitories Institution (KYK) did not meet the accommodation needs of the students. Concerns that students who do not have a place to stay will have to go to sect etc. dormitories are expressed by many groups, especially families.

 

Students reacting to the imposition of an upper limit on house rents, demanding that KYK dormitories be increased, closed private dormitories open to the public and dormitory fees reduced, launched the ‘’We cannot find housing’’ and ‘’Homeless’’ campaigns. Within the scope of the campaign, students have been on vigil with their blankets and pillows in parks in many cities for days.

 

Students were targeted

 

While the protests of the students who had a housing problem continued, the government made statements against the student protests. AKP’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan targeted the ‘’We cannot find housing’’ action initiated by students who could not find a dormitory or house, with the words and said: ‘’Some of them no related with studentship, the so-called students; just another version of Gezi Park.’’ Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, on the other hand, accused the students who said ‘’We cannot find housing’’, of being ‘’terrorist’’ in his speech at the opening program of the Social Incidents Negotiation Course at the Didim Police Moral Training Center.

 

Following the government’s statements targeting students, the police intervened in Istanbul and Izmir on September 28, and 80 students were detained.

 

Datas refuted the President

 

Again, President Tayyip Erdoğan, in a speech he made, accusing students who say ‘’We cannot find housing’’ of ‘’lying’’, stating that since he came to power, the capacity of the dormitories is higher than ever before and that Turkey has a dormitory capacity of almost 1.000.000. According to the 2020-2021 Formal Education report, only 700.000 of approximately 8.000.000 students who are actively studying in Turkey can stay in KYK dormitories. In Ankara, according to the data of the same report for the year 2020-2021, the number of students receiving formal education is 311,562, while the capacity of KYK dormitories is 27,693. Of these, 18,684 are female and 9009 are male students.

 

Came to the agenda of the parliament

 

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Istanbul MP Filiz Kerestecioğlu and Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP) MPs brought the issue to the parliament’s agenda by presenting a question to the Presidency of the Assembly in order to determine the housing problems of university students and to develop solutions.

 

‘No place, there is a waiting list’

 

Within the framework of these data, we conducted a research on the housing problem of students in private dormitories for females in Ankara. As a result of our research, we learned that there is no place in any of the private dormitories for females we had a talk, and that private dormitories prepare a waiting list to accept students.

 

The fees are between 23,000 and 28,000 per year

 

We held talks with 35 private female’s dormitories from various districts and districts of Ankara. While 33 of the institutions we had a talk stated that ‘there is no place’’ in their dormitories, two private females’ dormitories said that ‘’maybe’’ can be opened a place, but even if there is a place, they create a waiting lists, and this list is long.

 

The condition of staying in a private dormitory is not applying to a state dormitory

 

In addition, it is among the information we have obtained that the condition of not applying to the state dormitory is required in order to be able to enroll in a private dormitory. Private dormitory fees, which vary according to location, number of people in the rooms and meals, vary between 23,000 and 28,000 TR annually.