Kamil Pasha

Turkish municipalities are increasingly invoking Article 5366 of the law passed in 2005 which allows the demolition of shantytowns in the name of urban transformation projects and using them to destroy parts of the urban fabric. The Romani (gypsy) neighborhood of Sulukule, which dates to Byzantine times, has thus become an “urban transformation area” of Fatih Municipality and the old houses of the Romani population will be replaced with Ottoman-style villas under the new project. [JW: Probably New Urbanism designs that have little historical relevance to Ottoman architecture except external references.] These villas will be out of the range of the original residents, who will be moved to a place 40 km outside of the city center, thus destroying a thousand-year-old Romani culture that has existed on this site since Byzantine times. Many residents will not be eligible even for alternate housing and simply be put on the street. (see my previous posts on Sulukule under the ‘Istanbul’ category)

Almost five months ago, a group of architects from the Sulukule Platform, launched to save Sulukule from demolition and the Romani being evicted from their homes, applied to the Renovation Commission of Istanbul to evaluate the situation of 85 buildings and register them as historic buildings. Their request became tangled in a conflict between two government commissions. The outcome is uncertain, but the architects are pessimistic. (click for article)

Tags: Istanbul //