A gecekondu neighbourhood in Ankara

Gecekondu (plural gecekondular) is a Turkish word meaning a house put up quickly without proper permissions, a squatter's house, and by extension, a shanty or shack. Gecekondu bölgesi is a neighborhood made of those gecekondular.

Etymology[link]

In Turkish, gece means "at night" and kondu means "placed" (from the verb konmak, "to settle" or "to be placed"); thus the term gecekondu comes to mean "placed (built) overnight". And bölge means a "zone", "district" or even "region", so a gecekondu bölgesi is a "suddenly built-up shanty-neighborhood."

Usage[link]

In common usage, it refers to the low cost apartment buildings or houses that were constructed in a very short time by people migrating from rural areas to the outskirts of the large cities. Robert Neuwirth writes in his book Shadow Cities that these squatters are exploiting a legal loophole which states that if one starts building after dusk and moves into a completed house before dawn the next day without having been noticed by the authorities, then the next day the authorities are not permitted to tear the building down but instead must begin a legal proceeding in court (and thus it is more likely one can stay). Such buildings may be constructed without going through the necessary procedures required for construction, such as acquiring building permits, and can be very densely populated. Neuwirth states that "half the residents of Istanbul - perhaps six million people - dwell in gecekondu homes".^[1]

The gecekondu phenomenon is directly linked with the problems of unemployment and poverty in the rural areas of Turkey, especially in the east of the country. In many instances entire villages have migrated to the outskirts of the large industrialized cities in order to seek a better standard of living.

At present, some gecekondu areas are being gradually demolished and replaced by modern mass-housing compounds developed by the government's Housing Development Administration (TOKİ). Gecekondular are present both in small Turkish towns and in large cities such as Izmir, Ankara and Istanbul.

See also[link]

• Shanty town
• Favela
• Township (South Africa)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Slums in Turkey

• The European Journal of Turkish Studies, Thematic Issue N°1 Gecekondu

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Soner Arica (born 5 February 1961) is a Turkish singer and record producer.

Biography[link]

He was born as the youngest of seven children in the Fatsa district of Ordu Province, Turkey. Later he moved to Istanbul and studied in Şişli College. Having graduated from the college, he continued his education and obtained a degree in economics from Marmara University. In 1986, he became a professional model. He had a modelling career for five years. In 1992, he released his first album.

Albums[link]

• Bir Umut, (1992)
• En Güzel Serüven, (1994)
• Yaşıyorum, (1995)
• Yalvarma (Maxi Single), (1996)
• Herşey Yolunda, (1997)
• Sen Mutlu Ol (Maxi Single), (1998)
• Şarkılar Var, (1999)
• Remix, (2000)
• Kusursuz Aşk, (2001)
• Remix, (2002)
• Aşkla Oldu - Best Of Soner Arıca, (2003)
• Hatıram Olsun, (2004)
• Benim Adım Aşk, (2005)
• Dance Remix, (2006)
• Bu Yaz Biz, (2006)
• Seni Seviyorum, (2007)

References[link]

• Biyografi.info - Biography of Soner Arıca (Turkish)

External links[link]

• Official website of Soner Arıca

Sinan Çetin (born March 1, 1953 in Bahçesaray, Van Province) is a Turkish actor, film director, and producer.

Çetin was born as the son of a customs officer and studied art history at Hacettepe University. Çetin has produced full-length films and television series, and foremost, commercials. He is best known in the English-speaking world for his 1999 movie Propaganda, a critically acclaimed libertarian comedy about post-World War II eastern Turkey. Çetin both directed and produced this movie, as he did for many other films.

He commented at 9th International Turkish Language Olympics on June 21, 2011 about Fethullah Gulen. He said: "First of all I would like to thank someone, who is not here -and I don't know why he is not here- a great thinker, an important religious leader, someone precious and who has a heart made of gold. His name is Fethullah Gulen and I'm honored to say that."

Çetin is a fan of Ayn Rand, and has published Rand's books and other libertarian books in Turkey.

Çetin manages and owns the film production company Plato Film Productions. He opened the company in 1986 and it has been expanding ever since. It is one of the most commercially successful Production Companies of Turkey.

Çetin is currently working on his 13th feature film named "Çannakale Çocuklari". The film is starring actors such as Haluk Bilginer, Oktay Kaynarca, Yavuz Bingöl and Sinan Çetin's two sons Rafael Cemo Çetin and Orfeo Çetin.

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

• 1982 - Çiçek Abbas (Director)
• 1982 - Çirkinler de Sever (Director)
• 1985 - 14 Numara (Director)
• 1986 - Prenses Gökyüzü (Director)
• 1993 - Berlin in Berlin (Director)
• 1995 - Bay E (Director)
• 1999 - Propaganda (Director)
• 2001 - Komser Şekspir (Director)
• 2002 - Banka (Director)
• 2004 - Okul (Producer)
• 2004 - Romantik (Director)
• 2005 - Pardon (Producer)
• 2005 - Şans Kapıyı Kırınca (Actor)
• 2010 - "Kağit" (Director)

Television series[link]

• 2004 - Avrupa Yakası
• 2006 - Sahte Prenses

Documentaries[link]

• 1977 - Baskın
• 1977 - Halı Türküsü

References[link]

• Biyografi.info - Biography of Sinan Çetin (Turkish)

External links[link]

• Sinan Çetin at the Internet Movie Database
• Her 10 yılda bir başka Sinan Çetin, Asu Maro, January 23, 2008, Milliyet (Turkish)

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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007)

Ece Erken (born May 11, 1978) is a Turkish TV-hostess and actress.

Biography[link]

Ece Erken was born in the city of Samsun, Turkey in 1978. She did her education in Beşiktaş Atatürk Anadolu Lisesi in Istanbul. So far Ece has worked at BRT, Radyo Vizyon, Radyo Genç, Kral TV, Metropol FM, Alem FM, Show Radyo, Radyo Viva, Star TV,Fox TV, Kanal 6, Number One TV and Kanal 1. She got married on 1 September 2008.

External links[link]

• Ece Erken at the Internet Movie Database
• Ece Erken
• Biography of Ece Erken (Turkish)
• [1] (Turkish)

This article about a Turkish actor or actress is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Yusuf Güney
Background information
Born	(1984-06-05) June 5, 1984 (age 28)
Origin	Trabzon, Turkey
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2008–present
Website	yusufguney.com

Yusuf Güney (born 5 June 1984 in Trabzon, Turkey) is a Turkish singer who currently lives in London. Alongside Rafet el Roman, their song was the number one single for 16 weeks in the Turkish charts in 2008 with the song Aşk-ı Virane and thus the most successful song of the year. He became famous after visiting Rafet El Roman's concert which took place in London. He introduced himself as a journalist in order to be able to go near him. After this chat Rafet El Roman listened to his songs and decided that he has the ability to become a singer.

Charts[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yusuf Guney

• Official Websise