Romani people in Turkey

Romani people in Turkey
Türkiye'deki Romanlar
Total population
Estimates vary
Regions with significant populations
Istanbul (Sulukule)
Languages
Romani, Turkish
Religion
Sunni Islam
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Roma in Izmir (1904)
Roma in Istanbul

The Romani people in Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye'deki Romanlar) are an ethnic minority. They descend from the times of the Byzantine Empire. The records about their presence in 9th century Asia Minor exist, where they arrived from Persia. With the expanse of the Ottoman Empire Romani settled also in Rumelia (Southeastern Europe) under the Ottoman rule. Sulukule is the oldest Romani settlement in Europe. The descendants of the Ottoman Romani today are known as Xoraxane Romani and are generally of the Islamic faith.[1]

In modern Turkey, Xoraxane Romani do not have a legal status of ethnic minority because they are traditionally adherents of the Islam, adherents of which, regardless of ethnicity or race, are considered part of the ethnic majority in Turkey. This goes as far back as the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), in which Section III "Protection of Minorities" put an emphasis on non-Muslim minorities.[2]

There are officially about 500,000 Romani in Turkey.[3][4][5][6] By different Turkish and Non-Turkish estimates the number of Romani is up to 5,000,000,[7][8] while according to a Turkish source, they are only 0.05% of Turkey's population (or roughly 35,000 persons).[9]

In popular culture

A group of Turkish Romani appears in the 16th century Ottoman Constantinople of the video game Assassin's Creed: Revelations.

References

  1. ↑ Elena Marushiakova, Veselin Popov (2001) "Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire", ISBN 1902806026University of Hertfordshire Press
    • Original: Елена Марушиакова, Веселин Попов (2000) "Циганите в Османската империя". Литавра, София (Litavra Publishers, Sofia).(Bulgarian)
  2. ↑ "Treaty of Lausanne"
  3. ↑ http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,4565c2253b,4677ea9b2,46ef87ab32,0.html
  4. ↑ http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav072205.shtml
  5. ↑ http://www.ihf-hr.org/viewbinary/viewdocument.php?doc_id=7081
  6. ↑ http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=188686 Merkezin çalışmasında Türkiye'de resmi rakamlara göre 500 bin, tahminen de iki milyon civarında Roman olduğu yer alıyor.
  7. ↑ "Türkiye’deki Çingene nüfusu tam bilinmiyor.Article from Hürryet
  8. ↑ Romani, according to latest estimations of some experts, number between 4 and 5 million. European Roma Information Office
  9. ↑ "Bu düzenlemeyle ortaya çıkan tabloda Türkiye’de yetişkinlerin (18 yaş ve üstündekilerin) etnik kimliklerin dağılımı ... % 0,05 Roman ... şeklindedir.": http://www.konda.com.tr/html/dosyalar/ttya_tr.pdf

See also

External links