Kurds living in the Berdik (Paşalı) neighborhood of Erzirom's Şenkaya district, with a population of 2 thousand, are being punished by the AKP metropolitan municipality. The residents of the neighborhood, who earn their living from agriculture and farming, complain that while mains water is connected to all surrounding villages, they are not provided with the same service. Residents of the neighborhood also complained about the bad roads and stated that they were unable to do agriculture and animal husbandry due to water. The people of the neighborhood, who carried buckets of water from the fountains, said that they did not even receive a response to their petitions.

 

Although the Metropolitan Municipality started the project to bring network water to Alacuh, Uğurlu, Yanıkkavak, Sususuz, Balkaya, Deliktaş and Berdik neighborhoods in 2018, Berdik Neighborhood was the only neighborhood where water was not connected. Those living in Berdik Neighborhood attribute the fact that they are the only ones not given water among the seven neighborhoods because they are Kurd. Neighborhood people stated that they were exposed to racism.

 

'WE CANNOT RECEIVE SERVICE BECAUSE WE ARE KURDS'

 

Suat Kurt, who attributed the Metropolitan Municipality's failure to lay water network lines to its neighborhoods to Kurdish identity, said: “Water is supplied to 7 neighborhoods from a distance of 60 kilometers. There is a water network for the households of 6 neighborhoods, but water service was not provided only in Berdik District. We carry water from the fountain in jerrycans with our own means. The only reason why water network service is not provided to our neighborhood is because we are Kurds. We are engaged in animal husbandry and we constantly have to carry water to the animals. The water flowing from the fountain is chalky and very dirty. That's why we get sick often.”

 

'I CANNOT DO ANIMAL HUSBANDRY'

 

Neighborhood resident Musa Uğurlu, who stated that they could not find clean drinking water, said: “Mains water was connected in all the houses in the neighborhoods around us, and they built two fountains in our neighborhood. Currently, there is no house in any neighborhood other than ours that does not have a water network. I work as an animal husbandry and I carry water to the animals with great difficulty. These animals are my source of income, how can I survive if I sell them? There is no one to deal with our problems. We could not receive a positive or negative response to the petition we submitted to the metropolitan municipality regarding the neighborhood's water problem. I think it's a special  manner for us.”

 

'THEY CUT DOWN OUR TREES'

 

Drawing attention to the issues they face because there is no water network, Halil Demir said: “They cut down many trees to bring the water network to the neighborhood. They cut down 30 poplar trees because the water canal road passed through my land. They said, 'We will bring water here', but they built two fountains and left. We are experiencing serious issues due to lack of water. Can there be life where there is no water? We want the authorities to deal with this situation immediately.”

 

'IT WAS NOT JUST GIVEN TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD'

 

Emphasizing that no service has been provided to the neighborhood since 1980, neighborhood resident Tahsin Demir said that they irrigated the agricultural land with their own means. Demir continued as follows: “Canals were opened to the surrounding neighborhoods and mains water was delivered to the houses, but this service was not provided because our neighborhood was Kurd. We don't have drinking water right now. We carry buckets of water from the fountain on our backs every day. Now the fountain's water comes from 60 kilometers away, water was found 35 kilometers away, the project was prepared but not implemented. Water was provided to 6 neighborhoods, but not to our neighborhood. Among these 7 neighborhoods, Kurds live only in Berdik District. If this is not racism, what is?"

 

Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality General Directorate of Water and Sewerage Administration refrained from providing information about the complaints of the neighborhood residents on the issue.