Çekmeköy removals

We work in Çekmeköy, north-west of our base and one of its neighbouring districts. According to the District Governorate, the district lies south-west of Alemdağ Forest on the slopes of Keçiağılı Hill, at an elevation of around 100 metres. It covers 148.08 km² and has no coastline. Çekmeköy separated from Ümraniye and became a district in 2008; four villages—Reşadiye, Hüseyinli, Sırapınar and Koçullu—were added to its 17 neighbourhoods in 2010 and are now neighbourhoods too, bringing the total to 21. Its neighbours are Beykoz, Şile, Ümraniye and Sancaktepe (sources: Çekmeköy District Governorate, Geography and History of Çekmeköy, accessed 29.09.2026). Much of the district is forest and part of the Ömerli basin; housing is concentrated along Şile Road in the south.

Road journeys from our Sancaktepe base to Çekmeköy addresses are around 5–21 km: Aydınlar is 5 km away, the area around Merkez is 12 km, and Sırapınar is 21 km. Free-flowing drive times are 5–25 minutes; an early start keeps the journey close to this range, while Şile Road sets the pace during the day (source: OSRM / OpenStreetMap, September 2026).

Çekmeköy map: neighbourhoods, muhtarlık offices, stations

The map shows the boundaries of 21 neighbourhoods, muhtarlık offices, Çekmeköy station on the M5 and taxi ranks. The satellite layer brings out three distinct belts: apartments and housing complexes along Şile Road in the south, the forest edge around Alemdağ–Nişantepe–Çatalmeşe in the middle, and village centres in the Ömerli basin to the north.

Access profile, neighbourhood by neighbourhood

Categories are relative to Çekmeköy's own neighbourhoods. The map contains floor data for very few buildings here, so we check building height at every site visit; the figures below relate to street networks, gradients and parking.

Here is how we read the profile on moving day:

• Dense urban belt along Şile Road — Mehmet Akif, Aydınlar, Hamidiye, Mimar Sinan, Cumhuriyet, Soğukpınar and Kirazlıdere: each fits 470–1,483 buildings into 0.5–1.3 km². Mehmet Akif has the district's densest plots, with 1,483 buildings in 0.85 km²; the M5 station is here too. Average gradients are 4.5–5.7%, and 27–43% of streets are steep. The share of one-way or narrow streets is 10% in Mimar Sinan and 5% or less in the others. The map shows nine parking areas in Mimar Sinan, two in Hamidiye and one in Aydınlar, with none in the remaining neighbourhoods. The lorry can enter the street, but finding somewhere to stop is the main challenge; an early start and advance notice to neighbours are standard for this belt.
• Çamlık — an exception for one-way streets: this 0.65 km² neighbourhood has 8.4 km of local streets, 79% of them one-way or narrow; no other neighbourhood exceeds 10%. Its average gradient is 4.6%, it has 943 buildings and no mapped parking areas. Residents write that almost all of Çamlık consists of housing complexes. Many of the one-way roads may be internal complex roads, so we plan around management's hours and loading areas.
• Merkez — longest street network and steepest urban neighbourhood: its 45.5 km of local streets and 1,736 buildings are both district highs, across 10.1 km². The average gradient is 7.2%, and 48% of its streets are steep. It has by far the most mapped parking areas, at 29; both the Municipality and District Governorate are here. Residents also describe new high-rise blocks on the slopes, so exterior lifts come up most often during site visits in this neighbourhood.
• Housing-complex and new-development belt — Ekşioğlu, Güngören and Taşdelen: average gradients are 4.0–5.2%, and 19–35% of streets are steep. Ekşioğlu has the most buildings, at 996; Taşdelen has the fewest mapped, at 150. In Güngören, 8% of streets are one-way or narrow; Taşdelen has no one-way streets. Before moving day, we confirm vehicle entry times, number-plate registration and the goods-lift booking with the complex management.
• Forest edge — Alemdağ, Nişantepe, Çatalmeşe and Sultançiftliği: average gradients are 5–6.6%, and 35–46% of streets are steep. Alemdağ and Nişantepe spread across extensive street networks of 23.7 km and 25.1 km respectively. Çatalmeşe and Sultançiftliği have no one-way streets; in Nişantepe, 9% of streets are one-way or narrow. The few buildings with floor data in Nişantepe are high-rise blocks, while the campus area and the single-storey village fabric described by residents sit within the same neighbourhood. In winter, we check the route and lorry stopping point in advance for ice.
• The basin and former villages — Ömerli, Reşadiye, Hüseyinli, Sırapınar and Koçullu: Ömerli covers 47.2 km², around a third of the district, and has 40.9 km of local streets and 1,038 buildings. The other four have just 4–52 mapped buildings each. Reşadiye is the steepest at an average gradient of 7.6%; Sırapınar is the flattest at 2.6%. None has one-way streets. For villa and garden-home moves, we check the village road, turning space and construction traffic during the site visit.

Şile Road and timing

Şile Road is the only main artery serving Çekmeköy's residential belt. Residents have written for years that there is no alternative, that traffic builds towards Taşdelen and Ömerli in the morning and evening, and that the return from Şile jams on summer Sunday afternoons. The Madenler junction opposite the metro is where Ümraniye, Çekmeköy and Sancaktepe meet; residents say queues at stops and minibuses narrow the road after work. Our response is straightforward: we get the lorry onto Şile Road before 07.00 and schedule no loading on this route between 17.00 and 20.00. According to the Municipality's investment list, part of Yeşilyurt Street in Aydınlar was closed to vehicles and turned into a play street, so a lorry cannot reach the door there (source: Çekmeköy Municipality, Investment Projects, accessed 29.09.2026).

What residents say

The moves we see most in Çekmeköy

• Moves into housing complexes and new developments: complexes in Çamlık, Ekşioğlu, at the entrance to Taşdelen and in Nişantepe; management permission, number-plate registration, goods-lift booking and the phase and block number are essential.
• Family homes (2+1, 3+1): apartments in Merkez, Mimar Sinan, Hamidiye and Mehmet Akif; dismantling, packing and, on narrow streets, a plan for a second vehicle. A 2+1 means two bedrooms and a living room; a 3+1 means three bedrooms and a living room.
• Single-person homes (1+1, studio): workers moving near the metro and students at the Nişantepe campuses; fewer belongings and a smaller vehicle. A 1+1 means one bedroom and a living room.
• Villas and homes with gardens: forest-side complexes in Ömerli, Reşadiye, Sırapınar and Alemdağ; garden furniture, larger loads and village roads.
• Offices and shops: in Merkez, Taşdelen market and businesses along Şile Road; out-of-hours work may be needed.
• Urban-renewal moves and storage: belongings from a building marked for demolition may need to be stored for months; the move and storage service can be planned together.

You can check the volume of your belongings and a suitable vehicle size on our moving calculator.

After you move: registration, muhtarlık, municipality

You can register your new residence through e-Devlet or at your neighbourhood muhtarlık, the local headman's office. Addresses for Çekmeköy's 21 muhtarlık offices:

Çekmeköy Municipality's main service building is at No. 5 Piri Reis Avenue, Merkez Mahallesi; the switchboard numbers are 0216 600 06 00 and 0216 312 44 44. The Çınarköy Annex Service Building at No. 8 Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Avenue in Güngören uses the same switchboard. In-person Seri Nokta contact centres operate in Merkez, Taşdelen and Cumhuriyet. We could not find a WhatsApp line on the website (sources: Service Buildings and Seri Nokta Contact, accessed 29.09.2026). The District Governorate is at No. 8 Erenler Avenue, Merkez Mahallesi (source: Çekmeköy District Governorate, Contact, accessed 29.09.2026).

Permits for lorries and exterior lifts: the Municipality website did not list a published rule or fee for temporarily using the road for a removal vehicle or mobile lift (checked 29.09.2026). The Municipal Police page only provides a service-standards table as a PDF; we do not draw conclusions without checking it (source: Municipal Police services, accessed 29.09.2026). The District Governorate website has a notice heading that prohibits vehicle convoys and unnecessary honking, but we could not read the text and do not know its scope; when a move needs more than one vehicle, we set them off separately. For narrow streets, it is safest to call 0216 600 06 00 in advance.

Old furniture, rubble and waste collection days: the Cleaning Affairs Directorate page describes collection points for waste oil, batteries, textiles and glass, but we found no published information on household-waste collection days, rubble collection or an old-furniture service (source: Cleaning Affairs Directorate services, accessed 29.09.2026). Our team takes away boxes and packing materials on moving day; we can discuss old furniture during the site visit.

Public transport

The driverless M5 Üsküdar–Sultanbeyli line has one station in the district: Çekmeköy, in Mehmet Akif Mahallesi. Metro İstanbul says the Yamanevler–Çekmeköy section opened on 21.10.2018 and the Çekmeköy–Samandıra Merkez section on 16.03.2024. The line runs 06.00–24.00, with continuous overnight service from Friday morning to Sunday night; all stations have lifts (source: Metro İstanbul M5, accessed 29.09.2026). According to the Municipality's İETT list, routes ÇM41, ÇM43 and ÇM44 feed the station from Nişantepe and Özyeğin University; routes 138, 138B and 9H serve Ömerli and Hüseyinli. Residents write that routes 138 and 138B also call at Koçullu (source: İETT times and routes, accessed 29.09.2026). There is no Marmaray, metrobüs or ferry pier in the district. For moving day, this means station areas and Madenler stop are poor choices for loading at peak times; in the village neighbourhoods, the team and vehicle travel together.

Urban renewal and moving assistance

İBB's Çekmeköy planning-note amendment applies at-risk-building provisions to approved master plans in Alemdağ, Aydınlar, Cumhuriyet, Çatalmeşe (spelt Çatalçeşme on the page), Ekşioğlu, Güngören, Kirazlıdere, Nişantepe, Soğukpınar, Sultançiftliği and Taşdelen, as well as Ömerli and the four former villages. Çamlık, Hamidiye, Mehmet Akif, Merkez and Mimar Sinan are not listed; the page does not explain why (source: İBB Urban Transformation, Çekmeköy planning note, accessed 29.09.2026). The Municipality's Urban Transformation Directorate publishes application forms for tenant moving assistance, business moving assistance, owner rent assistance and evacuation support; the page gives no eligibility conditions or amounts (source: Urban Transformation Directorate services, accessed 29.09.2026). In September 2026, an implementation zoning plan for central Ömerli and Koçullu was put on public display; its contents are in a PDF we have not read (source: Ömerli–Koçullu implementation plan notice, accessed 29.09.2026). We pack belongings from a building marked for demolition into storage, then deliver them in one move when the new building is ready.

Neighbouring districts

Our neighbouring district pages are Ümraniye, Sancaktepe, Beykoz, Şile and Pendik. For addresses towards Beykoz and Şile, we consider the road, street and floor together; for moves in the south of the district, we also factor in the time of day on Şile Road. For the whole city, see our İstanbul removals page.

Sources

The boundaries, stations, muhtarlık addresses and access profile were calculated from the open datasets below. Information from the District Governorate, Municipality, İBB and Metro İstanbul is summarised in our own words and linked to its source.

• Çekmeköy District Governorate, Geography (area, elevation and neighbouring districts), History of Çekmeköy (formation, 17 neighbourhoods and four villages), Contact — accessed 29.09.2026. The area figure on the geography page is used because the history page differs; population is omitted because the two pages give different figures without a year.
• Çekmeköy Municipality, Neighbourhoods (21 neighbourhoods), Service Buildings, Seri Nokta Contact, Municipal Police services, Cleaning Affairs Directorate services, Urban Transformation Directorate services, Investment Projects, İETT times and routes and Ömerli–Koçullu implementation plan notice — accessed 29.09.2026.
• İBB Urban Transformation Directorate, Çekmeköy planning-note amendment — accessed 29.09.2026.
• Metro İstanbul, M5 line page — accessed 29.09.2026.
• Distance: OpenStreetMap road network via OSRM, September 2026; free-flow time is approximate and uses a car profile.