At Sarmaşık Association, the intended population and aid criteria were rather anomalous. The elderly poor, who did not have social security, were outside of production mechanisms and were unable to go back into production; handicapped citizens; divorcees and widows; patients under continuous treatment; families/individuals under hard socioeconomic conditions; and families with no member that could join workforce could receive aid.
“I was in the hospital while there were the rumors circulating that the station was going to be shut down and that the police were about to arrive. On one side there was the closing down of the channel, on the other there was the death of my mother-in-law... One after another. Afterwards, I did not even have the strength to look for a job. As a matter of fact, I did not have the hope to find one. All the places I could have worked for were shut down. Then I had to go back to my hometown of Bandırma.