600,000 illegal houses and shanties in Istanbul

Istanbul attracts thousands of people from across Anatolia who arrive in the city to find jobs or education. The population of the city has soared to nearly 12 million.

The number of the registered makeshift houses or shanties is 285,000. Most are situated in the Zeytinburnu area. Other districts in the Istanbul area which have over 10,000 registered shanties are – Kagithane, Gaziosmanpasa, Beykoz, Maltepe, Sariyer, Eyup and Umraniye.

Municipality officials have noted that 800 shanties are in a state of near-collapse.

Politicians generally don’t crack down on the illegal homes because they don’t want to loss the votes of the people living there.