There is a call from Robert Kozma, a member of the Serbian Parliament from the Serbian Green – Left Front (ZLF), to the #haydarpaşa700 Sunday protest.

Hello,

I am sending you warm greetings to the people of Istanbul and to the Haydarpaşa Solidarity from Serbia, from Belgrade.

My name is Robert Kozma and I am an member of the National Parliament and member of the of the political party Green Left Front. Yet, we have started our struggle as Belgrade-based civic initiative in 2014 that later grew into political movement.

While reading about the Haydarpassa Inititive, I was impressed with your struggle and determination for preserving railway station. I understand that it is fight for several causes. It is to save the histroricall and architectual landmark and possibility for public transportation and for right of citizens to be connected within society and with the rest of the world.

But I believe it is more than that, it is to preserve microenviorment, people’s relations and interactions around Haydarpassa Railway Station that were build over the decades. That represents the true meaning of public heritage protection.

We have shared legacy of the Balkans and Anatolia in building rail infrastructue that connected societies and opened space for peaceful exchange. Railway was always symbol of possibility for people to travel, to see and meet different cultures and societies, while always bringing back some influences from abroad and by that enriching their culture but also building interlinks among societies and cultures.  

The effort of Haydarpaşa Solidarity is recognized all over the Europe. I would like to congratulate you for protesting and defending this historical and cultural landmark for 700th time. Children that were born at the begining of your struggle are now grown citizens at the beggining of their twenties. But more importatntly they had opportunity to learn the true meaning of public space and how it is built by peoples interactions. They were in possibility to learn about the love that you have for your community.

As I sad, we have started our political struggle back in 2014. Direct cause for establisment of our political inititives was launching by regime massive project of building luxurious gatted community called „Belgrade Waterfront“ in city center near riverbank of Sava river. They have presented an shady investor from United Arabic Emirates who would allegly invest 200 millions of euros and give a grant for urban development in the same amount, while City would be obliged to give free of charge land underneath the project, to adjust communal and trafic infrastructure to the idea of project which acctually meant to transver the Main Railway Station and Main Bus Station to other part of the town. When everything is calculated, it meant that City would invest around 2 billions of euros. It was clear that true investor is citizens of Serbia, while the most of profit would go to private entity from Emirates. It was obvious that the project was corrupted.

In all our cities we are fighting in the essence the same fight: whether urban development will be done in proper manner in accordance with citizens’ need to have open and shared public spaces, affordable housing, enough places in kindergartens and schools, greenery that give shade and clean air, ecological and efficient public transportation, functional health centers, etc. or will so called investor urbanism prevail where logic is completely opposite – every resource is given to investor in order to maximaze their profit.    

Our problems and struggles are same, so we need to work together, establishing mutual connection, sharing knowledge and experience, as well solidarity.

I would like to congratulate you for protesting, for showing love for your community 700th time. I hope that Haydarpaşa will remain a working station, restored in full to welcome not only high-speed trains but also regional, international, and commuter lines — in a model of integration and openness.

“From Belgrade to Istanbul, we stand together in protecting railways, memory, and the right to the city.”

Haydarpasa Gardir, Gar Kalacak!