November 2008. One of the oldest Rroma settlements in Europe, the Sulukule neighbourhood in Istanbul is being destroyed and its inhabitants are forced to move outside of the city, in a new settlement where they will no longer be able to work in their traditional occupation. Behind this evicion, one finds an attempt at gentrification of the centre of Istanbul.

The Sulukule neighbourhood in Istanbul lies right next to and within the old Byzantine Theodosian land walls.
It is mostly inhabited by around 3,000 Rroma, or roughly 80% of the local population, who live in small single courtyard hoses dating back to the Ottoman times. The Rroma presence in this quarter is older than the Ottoman conquest of the region, as the first Ottoman tax registers dating from the early 16th century already mention Rroma in Istanbul around this place.

The current inhabitants are to be relocated to outside of the city limits in Taşoluk, around forty kilometres west of the centre of Istanbul, in large apartment blocks. This new settlement is currently not connected to the public transportation system.
The Rroma´s have no huge income, and the risk, that many of the families will end up on the street, is allready reality. A few families have found a "home" underneath the highwaybrigde, just short of a mile, from Sulukule Many families , which identity and past lies in Sulukule, have chosen too keep on there lifes in the area, and settled down on the ruins of there demolised homes.

The plan for Sulukule is too renew the houses and build up hotels in the area. Estimated too be finished in 2010, where Istanbul is the Culturel capitol of Europe.

This redevelopment is to taking place in what is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.