Türkiye is establishing Romani Coordination Centers under the Interior Ministry to address their problems at the highest level of the state, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday.
Speaking to the Romani community at the "2023 Romani Meeting" in Istanbul, the president said the government genuinely aims to strengthen the bond with the Romani citizens and embrace them and their unique culture.
In this regard, the government is launching the coordination center initiative in 25 provinces, where a Romani coordinator will represent them at the Governor's Office.
The government has also prepared an exclusive social housing project for Romani citizens in 12 provinces, the president added.
In 2016, Turkey announced an action plan as part of the government’s Romani Initiative to improve the living conditions of local Romani people.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan often hails his ties to the community, with which he spent his childhood in the Kasımpaşa neighborhood of Istanbul where a large part of the Romani community lived. He is credited with taking the first steps for affirmative action programs for the community during his tenure as prime minister. The president, who attended Romani “conventions” that brought together representatives of the community, was also the first to apologize to the community in 2010 for the Turkish state’s past policies depriving the community of their rights.
Education and employment pose serious challenges to the Romani community although their situation has improved with a string of projects in recent years. Most Romani citizens work at low-level positions and low-paying jobs due to their limited access to education. The government has worked to help them access better jobs with better social security and seeks to encourage participation in free vocational training courses where participants are automatically employed in public services and private companies once they complete the training.
