Allegations that a Russian citizen bought 80 flats in Antalya and rented these flats only to Russian citizens were reflected in the written and visual media. Our Institution has previously stated that these and similar practices, in which the element of foreignness is highlighted, pose a risk of our citizens being discriminated against in terms of access to housing.
The right to shelter and housing, one of the most basic human needs, is a fundamental human right that must be met without compromising certain standards in order to sustain a life worthy of human dignity. Although houses, whose prices tend to increase globally, are now widely used for commercial purposes, this does not allow ignoring the primary function of housing, which is to provide a home for people, and does not allow discriminatory practices in housing rental processes.
As a matter of fact, the United Nations (UN) Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) also emphasized this issue in its General Comment No. 4: “In the Committee’s view, the right to housing should not be interpreted in a narrow or restrictive sense which equates it with, for example, the shelter provided by merely having a roof over one’s head or views shelter exclusively as a commodity. Rather it should be seen as the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity.” (UN, CESCR, General Comment No. 4, para. 7).
Even if our citizens have the economic situation to pay the high rental prices indexed to foreign currency, the housing supply made in favor of foreigners shows the assumption-based belief that our citizens will have difficulty in paying, on the part of houseowners and real estate agents, and that these people have insufficient wealth and economic status compared to foreign nationals. Concept of wealth is expressed as the current total value of the owner's assets accumulated over a certain period of time or the movable and immovable value that provides income to the owner. Being subjected to a different treatment that is not based on a legitimate and reasonable basis due to a person's wealth, which is a concept that includes material possibilities and assets, may lead to a violation of the prohibition of discrimination (HREIT, Discrimination on the Basis of Wealth, Discrimination Ground Series No: 7, p. 3).
In the first paragraph of the 4th article titled "Types of Discrimination" of the Law on the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye, with No. 6701, "discrimination based on an assumed ground" is listed as a type of discrimination. According to the first paragraph of Article 2 of the aforementioned Law, discrimination based on assumed ground is described as “Instances where a natural person or legal person who, although not really bearing one of the grounds of discrimination cited in this Law, is subject to a discriminatory treatment in terms of exercise of legally recognized rights and freedoms based on the assumption that s/he bears one of these grounds.”
Article 3 of the Law on the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye is as follows: “It is prohibited under this Law to discriminate against persons based on the grounds of sex, race, colour, language, religion, belief, sect, philosophical or political opinion, ethnical origin, wealth, birth, marital status, health status, disability and age.” The third paragraph of Article 5 of the aforementioned Law contains the provision “When offering movable and immovable property to public; public institutions and agencies, professional bodies with public institution status, natural persons and legal persons established under private law and those authorize by them shall never discriminate against those who wish to acquire or rent such property and wish to receive information thereon at any stage during the lease of such property, formulation of the conditions of the contract of lease, renewal of the contract of lease or termination thereof, sale or assignment.”
In a democratic society founded on fundamental principles such as pluralism and respect for different cultures, it is unacceptable for people to be treated differently because of their race, colour, descent and/or ethnic origin. In addition, subjecting the country's citizens to discriminatory treatment during the provision of services related to the right to shelter and housing would be contrary to the principles of universal human rights, prohibition of discrimination and the principle of equality.
Our Institution, whose main mission is to guarantee the right of people to be treated equally based on human dignity and to prevent discrimination in benefiting from legally recognized rights and freedoms, states that the right to housing and housing is one of the most basic human rights and that there should be no discriminatory treatment against our citizens in the housing rental and sales processes. Our Institution closely follows the allegations reflected in the written and visual media.
Respectfully announced to the public.