In the district of Tepecik (Konak) in the Izmir region, the police cut off the electricity to the Roma living there, who could no longer pay their bills, in the wake of a raid. The residents protested with gas lamps and tubes against being deprived of the basis for illumination, but especially also for heaters, in the midst of winter.
The residents set fires together in the streets daily to keep warm, and used gas lamps. Due to the fire set, police convoys cut off the residential areas.
One of the ways the situation was described was: "Other countries are moving to space, we'll start using paraffin lamps in Turkey in 2021." In the area, especially amongst the Roma, during the past months, from painters to florists, almost everyone would have been unemployed, some unable to pay for bread - let alone, of course, the electricity bill. In whole districts, people are struggling with hunger again.
