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Europe
Turkish bulldozers raze 1,000 years of Romany history
2009-05-21
Just an excerpt - read the rest at the link.
Anti-riot police supervised this final phase last week of the demolition of Sulukule, a neighbourhood on the European bank of Istanbul once home to a vibrant community of musicians and artists whose rhythmic songs and belly dancing served as the city's musical heart.

Similar scenes have been repeated across the country as municipalities, supported by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), drive home a programme of urban renewal, destroying ramshackle and often unsanitary housing in favour of new tower blocks, often many kilometres (miles) outside localities.

But the demolition of Sulukule caused controversy as it razed an ancient community of Rom gypsies who can trace their history in the suburb back to Byzantine times.

City officials in the Fatih district, run by mayor Mustafa Demir from the AKP, estimate the project will relocate about 3,500 people from Sulukule -- 1,300 of them Roms -- and replace their old housing with fancy, wood-panelled "Ottoman style" buildings.
Posted by:Seafarious

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