No identity crisis for Romany Gypsies

Posted on Monday, March 09 @ 07:37:03 CDT by editor

A ROMANY Gypsy association in Didim has launched a new drive to recruit members from within its 1,000-strong community and promote their culture to the wider public.

The Association, launched last September, has already recruited 60 members, but some within their community are against publicly declaring their cultural identity, because of perceived injustices from the wider public.

Association chairman Metin Çakır said he understood their reaction as many had encountered difficulties at work, school and on the streets for declaring their Romany Gypsy heritage.

As part of the association’s initiative to appeal to Romanys and the public, members held an event on February 28 with folk dance shows.

With an estimated 1,000 gypsies living in and around Didim, there are 221 gypsy associations in Turkey – with a staggering 167 in the Aegean Region. İzmir alone has 18 associations and two federations.

Mr Çakır said that they were trying to explain the importance of being organised to the gypsy community in Didim, but were still facing difficulties from within.

While most of the members are young, including non-gypsy members, some of the elders within the Romany community have railed against the association.

Mr Çakır said: “Unfortunately some of the gypsies are timid in declaring their identity. Yet, when attended the federation meeting in İzmir, they witnessed the interest of the authorities from the European Union.

“They are interested in the gypsies perpetuating their cultural identity in Turkey, in their educational and life standards. The EU offers grants to some of the gypsies studying at the university.

“We are now trying to have the high school students to benefit from these scholarships as well. If we can unite in Didim, we can then benefit from these rights.”