VZCZCXRO2189
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHIT #0435/01 2281407
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151407Z AUG 08 ZDS
FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
TO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8380
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 7862
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000435 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY - ADDING SENSITIVE CAPTION 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV AA TU OSCE
SUBJECT: SULUKULE PROJECT PITS ROMA MINORITY AGAINST 
ISTANBUL,S NEED TO MODERNIZE 
 
REF: A. ISTANBUL 166 
     ¶B. 06 ANKARA 06580 
 
ISTANBUL 00000435  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary. Following the demolition of large numbers 
of substandard homes in Istanbul's predominantly ethnic Roma 
neighborhood Sulukule, most residents remain in the rubble of 
the partially demolished neighborhood. Roma community leaders 
contend the municipality is committing a serious human rights 
violation by destroying the historic area and forcing out its 
impoverished occupants.  The municipal mayor and other 
contacts defend the project as badly needed urban renewal 
prior to Istanbul assuming the role in 2010 of European 
Center of Culture. End Summary. 
 
A "Voluntary" Move under Threat of Expropriation 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Located in the shadows of Istanbul's Byzantine 
walls, Sulukule is home to about 5,000 residents in 680 
households, of which an estimated 3,500 are Roma.  The 
municipality began  demolishing homes in late 2007 and plans 
to build 620 faux-Ottoman townhouses in their place as part 
of a government-funded 100 million YTL (USD 87 million) urban 
renewal project  in preparation for Istanbul's role as the 
European Center of Culture in 2010 (Ref A). The municipality 
has offered Sulukule homeowners 50,000 YTL (43,000 USD) for 
each house.  Mustafa Demir, the ruling Justice and 
Development Party (AKP) mayor of the Fatih municipality that 
subsumes Sulukule, told us this amount is well above market 
value of the squalid homes, and could be used toward the 
160,000 YTL purchase price of a new home in the renovated 
neighborhood.  Calling Demir's position unrealistic, Sulukule 
Roman Culture Solidarity and Development Association 
President Sukru Pankuk said Roma have no way to pay the 
balance and are being forced from t 
he neighborhood. He argues that the property value of their 
current homes is far greater than the municipality's offer 
and will be even greater in the future. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Pankuk explained the Roma homeowners see little 
choice but to accept the arguably above-market rate being 
offered by non-resident buyers seeking to ensure a right to 
purchase a townhouse once the renovation project is complete. 
  Fully 80 percent of them have sold their houses to 
non-resident buyers for up to 70,000 YTL, while between 10 
and 15 residents have sold their properties to the 
municipality. The Association contends that of 680 
households, only 303 have accepted the municipality's 
suggestion to move to Tasoluk, a non-descript neighborhood 40 
kilometers away that has no wage-earning opportunities in 
traditional Roma activities such as entertainment.  Demir, in 
contrast, told us one-third of the Sulukule population has 
accepted.  The municipality plans to complete the 
government-sponsored relocation of all (willing) Sulukule 
residents to Tasoluk by August 20. 
 
Exceptional "Money Making" Opportunity for Residents? 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The government contends it has provided Roma 
residents a positive economic opportunity by removing 
barriers to purchase the newly- built Sulukule townhouses. 
Housing board (TOKi) and municipality contacts told us 
Sulukule residents will have a right to purchase prior to 
others, won't have to pay taxes or the usual 25 percent down 
payment, and may extend TOKi's normal 10 year mortgage 
payment plan to 15 years. Demir endorsed the municipality's 
plan as a "money maker" for  residents, claiming  they could 
find new housing near Sulukule and sublease their Tasoluk 
units for 500 YTL while paying as little as 250 YTL per month 
themselves. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Demir told us the project is part of a broader 
effort to address the proliferation of substandard, and often 
illegal, housing throughout Istanbul.  The expropriation 
provisions of the Renovation and Utilization of Deteriorated 
Cultural Properties Act (Act 5366) are a powerful tool for 
revitalizing such areas, including Roma neighborhoods 
Ayvansaray, Fener-Balat, and Yenikapi (Ref B). While Demir 
proudly announced no homes were expropriated in Sulukule, he 
acknowledges Act 5366 would allow such a measure. The 
Association claims many land holders sold their property 
under the implicit threat of expropriation. 
 
Preservation of Cultural Identity 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
ISTANBUL 00000435  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Demir claims the government is taking sufficient 
measures to preserve Roma cultural identity.  None of the 
historical sites are representative of the Roma presence as 
Roma culture manifests itself in temporal activities and not 
in permanent structures. Regardless, the municipality will 
send 50 Roma women and an undetermined number of Roma 
children to vocational schools to be trained t make 
handicrafts to be used in the renovation o the 
neighborhood's Ottoman architecture. In addiion, the new 
housing complex will include courtyrds for dancing, a formal 
musical training cente, and a small touristic hotel with a 
horse drawncarriage. The municipality encourages the Roma to 
apply for positions as carriage drivers and dancer, and to 
enroll their children in the formal musc training center. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment: Both side have valid arguments. Though 
Roma homeowners wil receive a sizeable sum from the 
municipality fr their current properties, the community's 
move rom its historic location threatens its cultural 
integrity and traditional economic opportunities. ormer 
Sulukule renters will have limited income earning 
opportunities and a move to a distant suburb will make 
earning a living even more difficult. However, the Roma's 
contention that it is a human rights violation for the 
municipality to expect the Roma to work in any occupation or 
location other than those they have arguably occupied for 
centuries is divorced from the realities of life in a major 
European city in the twenty-first century. End Comment. 
OUDKIRK