03.06.2025 17:20
The municipality provided space for vendors from the villages of Kocaeli in the landfill area. Animal sellers who reacted to the situation stated that they had to sell sacrificial animals among the garbage alongside dead animals.
The municipality of Kocaeli's Izmit district has implemented a scandalous practice. The municipality has allocated a garbage area for sellers who came to sell sacrificial animals.
THEY ARE SELLING SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS AMONG PILES OF GARBAGE Izmit Municipality has practically thrown animal sellers from the villages of the city into the garbage. Sellers placed in the garbage area next to the Modern Animal Market are trying to conduct their sales among huge piles of trash. The resulting images invite disease and are also nauseating.
"NO CUSTOMERS COME HERE" Ali Başeğmez, who stated that he came from Kandıra, said, "We come here every year. This is called Izmit Modern Animal Market, but they make us set up a market in the garbage. No customers come here, and we cannot sell our animals. We are trying to sell our animals in the garbage. Every year we suffer humiliation in the garbage. This is called the village market. Izmit Municipality allows it. We cannot find a place because the prices there are very high. We bring 15-20 animals. They ask for 60-70 thousand lira to enter. We cannot set up there; we set up in the garbage. We are trying to sell animals in dust, filth, and smell. Everything you can imagine is here," he said.
"THIS IS NOT FAIR TO THE VILLAGERS" Another sacrificial animal seller, Erman Temel, stated, "This is the place allocated by Izmit Municipality for villagers. We are in the midst of garbage and dust. We are trying to arrange a place to sell our animals against these difficulties. There are dead dogs and dead cats. We can hardly stand the smell. This is not fair to us. It does not suit Izmit Municipality. The people of Izmit are in the garbage. They have put the villagers of Izmit in the garbage, while outsiders are in the modern animal market. We are willing to pay, but per animal. It is difficult to be in such a mountain of garbage. This is not justice. People are going to space, and we are in the garbage in the 21st century. We are in a place that suits Izmit Municipality. The villages of Izmit do not deserve this," he said.
Another seller from Kandıra, Vedat Aydoğdu, said, "'The peasant is the master of the nation.' This is a quote from Atatürk. For years, the place they have allocated to villagers is garbage. When they come to ask for votes, they make so many promises to people. There is no one coming or going. We even carry our water by hand. We brought large cattle. We do not look down on those coming from outside, but is this what the villagers deserve? There is not a single official. If this citizen deserves to be in the garbage, there is nothing to say," he said.