Ankara- Tülay Hatimoğulları, deputy co-chair of the Peoples and Beliefs Commission of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has released a written statement to mark the Internation Romani Day, annually celebrated on April 8.              

In the statement, Tülay Hatimoğlulları recalls that April 8 was declared as the International Romani Day at Serock, Poland in 1990 to honor the first major international meeting of Romani representatives, April 7–12 1971 in Chelsfield near London.

Stating that the Romani people have faced marginalization and discrimination all around the world for centuries, Tülay Hatimoğulları says in the statement, “While the International Romani Day is celebrated all around the world, the Romani people are subjected to poverty, racism, and discrimination. They are forced to have a life in which languages (Romani, Domari, Lomavren) and their culture are not recognized and they are marginalized when they speak their language.”

Romani people in Turkey

Tülay Hatimoğulları also draws attention to the problems faced by the Romani people living in Turkey. “The underlying reason for why they face problems in the education system, finding a job, health system, and renting a house is the discrimination against them. The problems that play a decisive role in the lives of the Romani people every day cannot be eliminated by ignoring the historical and social background of these centuries-old problems,” she says in the statement by pointing out that national and local policies should be formed for the Romani people in order to eliminate discrimination against them.

The statement continues as follows:

“As HDP; we emphasize once again that we are in solidarity with the Romani people at every stage of the struggle for equal citizenship and to remove the obstacles against the participation of the Romani people, who have been forced to live in deep poverty, in social, economic and political life. With the determination of our struggle for all peoples and faith groups to live together freely and under equal conditions, we wish a happy International Romani Day to all Romani People.

Baxtalo Romani Dive!”