The unchanging other: The case of Romani community in Turkey

The Romani community is one of the largest and ancient ethnic groups residing within the borders of Turkey. This community is actually composed of different subgroups like Doms and Loms but mostly referred as “Gypsy” by the Turkish people. The negative connotations of this word are forming the first step of exclusion of this group within the Turkish society. In addition, the Romani people are considered as the “other” both by the dominant group – Turkish – and other ethnic groups. This situation leads to constant exclusion – both geographically and socially – of this group of people because of their ethnic origin. This exclusion is visible almost in all spheres of life. The never-ending questionings about their religious commitments, their limited or unequal access to public services like education and transportation, their spatial segregation and other group’s solid rules about not marrying anyone from the Romani community are some of the signs of their exclusion within Turkish society. On the other hand, their strategies for inclusion to the society are mostly based on their overt Turkish nationalism and constant emphasis on their Muslim identity. This is because being a part of dominant Turkish community is closely related to being Muslim. But still how much they succeed in being included in the society is open to discussion. This research is based on the data collected from in-depth interviews with both the Romani people and the dominant groups who categorize themselves basically as Turkish in the Thracian region of Turkey. The perceptions of both sides about the exclusionary or inclusionary patterns concerning the Romani community within the region are analyzed through this qualitative research and the results are going to be presented within this session.