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Kavaklidere Residents Take Charge of Their Neighborhood The same group of volunteers disperse themselves throughout the streets tidying up and pruning the trees, while taking an inventory of the trees and categorizing them according to their age, type, and physical state. They also rearrange all the flowers in all the huge vases decorating both sides of Tunali Hilmi Boulevard. Amused, the president Halil Yurtkuran said: "Sometimes our well intended actions have comical repercussions too. We have put up a 30 foot banner over a street, saying 'Let's Respect Each Others' Space and Liberty', and the next day the district of Çankaya wrote a citation ticket which cost us a few hundred dollars! The following day when we went to visit the mayor, we came out of his office with a lot of commitments such as repairing the pot holes and the side walks. Later, we made sure he kept his promises." "Then the city wanted to construct a road through one of Ankara's most well known parks, The Kugulu Park!, you know, the one with the little pond in it and the swans! We stopped that too! We collected 3,000 home owners' and business owners' signatures to put a stop to it." They care about people living outside of their city as well. The day after the earthquake in Marmara, they collected a few thousand dollars within two hours and helped out the earthquake sufferers in Golyaka. Recently, also, they hired a consultant company to improve the conditions of their major street, The Tunali Hilmi Boulevard. They are currently considering a referendum to close the street to traffic and turn it into a recreational area utilizing the existing businesses and making it look like an open air mall. Another current campaign which is going on is called "No horns honked here ". It became especially effective one weekend when the neighborhood children began to, walk up and down the streets with their parents, holding signs. Another is an annual drawing competition among the first graders featuring the environment. They frequently hold meetings to bring together presidents of board of administration of all the apartment buildings around. Throughout these meetings, many ideas are expressed into consensus and implemented. There is more. An annual competition for balcony and garden arrangement. Selected judges go around to inspect and give awards to the best looking sights in the neighborhood. Mr. Yurtkuran said "we thought this was one way to get the message out that the balconies are not exactly storage spaces for the unwanted items in the house." They even have a project in process with a French company to be able to recycle their trash. I am obviously talking, about the district of Kavaklidere in Ankara. The old homes of the Kavaklidere vineyard, the area where the first woman pilot of Turkey, Sabiha Gokcen, lived. Forty years ago, it was a neighborhood with one single, dusty street, in which the only elementary school around was, The Kavaklidere Elementary School, a Mobil station, one small baseball field, the home of a French Cultural Attaché, and the home of the state minister Fatih Rustu Zorlu. Forty years later, the scenery has changed. Busy, loud and crowded streets with high-rise condominiums. Traffic hassles, congestion and air pollution during the winters. But wait, help is on the way.. an NGO, KAVAKLIDEREM! They started to be concerned, became organized, and became active to save their neighborhood and as a conclusion, it is working. Kavaklidere Association is also a good example for other city dwellers living outside Kavaklidere neighborhood. Thirty years later, when I ran into my friend from high school, Halil Yurtkuran, he kept praising my old town where I grew up, Kavaklidere, Ankara. Thank you Halil, thank you KAVAKLIDEREM. |