Sulukule is a neighbourhood in Istanbul. Or, you could say, a town in Istanbul. Located against the old city walls bordering the old historical centre of the city, it has been home to Roma for hundreds of years. For a long time nobody cared to maintain the sometimes beautiful old wooden houses, and now Sulukule is not so beautiful anymore. At least, when you look at it from the outside. When you get inside it, they say you will find a rich culture of music, dance and strong community life. The community centre is typical: on one hand it looks like an average Turkish teahouse, but when you take a closer look, Roma culture is clearly visible. On the walls traditional Roma clothing is displayed, there are gaudy pictures of women dancers, and there are lots of birds in cages singing their hearts out.
Perhaps the Sulukule culture will not survive much longer. The city of Istanbul decided to invest in improving the area, and big investors seem to have taken over. The people who have lived in Sulukule for generations can probably not afford the new cost of housing, they will disperse all over the city and gradually the ancient community will fall apart. There are several groups that try to get the municipality to more seriously take into account the needs of the Sulukule people, but they feel ignored. Some of them have even lost hope: it might, they say, be just too late for Sulukule…
Int’l voice raised for Sulukule
See: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=96227
Sign to save Sulukule: http://www.petitiononline.com/romaturk/petition.html