Tuzla, Istanbul

Tuzla
Tuzla
District and municipality
	Logo
	Map showing Tuzla District in Istanbul Province
	Tuzla Location in Turkey Tuzla Tuzla (Istanbul)
	Coordinates: 40°48′58″N 29°18′02″E / 40.81611°N 29.30056°E
Country	Turkey
Province	Istanbul
Government
• Mayor	Eren Ali Bingöl (CHP)
Area	138 km2 (53 sq mi)
Population (2022)	288,878
• Density	2,100/km2 (5,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+3 (TRT)
Area code	0216
Website	www.tuzla.bel.tr

Tuzla is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey.^[2] It has a population of 288,878 (2022) and a land area of 138 km² .^[1] It is on the Asian side of the city next to the municipality of Pendik. Tuzla is on a headland on the coast of Marmara Sea, at the eastern limit of the city. The mayor is Eren Ali Bingöl (CHP).

History

The Greek name for the headland was Akritas (Ακρίτας). During the reign of the Ottoman Empire, a majority of inhabitants of Tuzla were Greek farmers and fishermen. The local Greek population of Tuzla was exchanged with the Turkish population of Salonica, Kavala and Drama during the population exchange between Greece and Turkey following the Treaty of Lausanne and the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923.

Composition

There are 17 neighbourhoods in Tuzla District:^[3]

Akfırat
Anadolu
Aydınlı
Aydıntepe
Cami
Evliya Çelebi
Fatih
İçmeler
İstasyon
Mescit
Mimar Sinan
Orhanlı
Orta
Postane
Şifa
Tepeören
Yayla

Tuzla today

While fishing boats are still present in Tuzla today, by the end of the 1980s, fishing had been largely overtaken by industrial services, particularly shipbuilding; the shipyards of Tuzla remain active. Farming continues to be prevalent around the inland parts of Tuzla.

Tuzla is most well known for its seafront and its abundance of fish restaurants. It is also a popular location for wealthy or retired residents of Istanbul to move into houses that are further away from the cityside. Travelling to Kadıköy from Tuzla by public transport takes around 40 minutes to an hour, while the European side transit hubs of Eminönü and Beşiktaş are another 30 minutes away by ferry.

The local birdlife is primarily sustained by the wetland from the coast, which has since largely deteriorated due to the accelerating growth of the city as well as environmental product dumping by factories. To this day, environmental pollution remains a prevalent issue in Tuzla.

Frequent deaths of shipyard workers have become a common occurrence in Tuzla. This has led to criticism of the government for their lack of control of illegal employment and inaction in regards to companies and improving their working conditions. In February and March 2008, thousands of workers went on strike for better wages and conditions. The police intervened in the demonstrations, and 86 workers were taken into police custody, 15 of them injured.