Antiziganism as a Barrier for the Roma to Access Policies: The Case of Romani Access to Education in Turkey

Abstract

The inclusion of the Roma has been on the political agenda of the European Union (EU) and its candidates for more than a decade. There is an ongoing argument whether policies are designed well enough to respond to the needs of the Roma. This article discusses the discrepancy between what the education policies set out to achieve and the reality of what they did actually achieve for the Roma in Turkey. Through documentary analysis, interviews with Romani NGOs and teachers/principals, the analysis indicates the reasons why education policies in Turkey have failed to include the Roma. This work argues that one of the main reasons that creates a cleavage between the general policies and the Romani access to these policies lays in the antiziganism that exists in wider society. Establishing a relationship between antiziganism and the design of education policies provides insights for the inclusion of the Roma not only in Turkey but also across Europe.

Acknowledgement

The content of this article forms essentially the author’s PhD thesis. The author would like to express her gratitude to her supervisors Dr Timofey Agarin and Dr Lee McGowan for all their assistance and support. The author would also like to thank Dr Valerio Rizzi and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Notes

1 In Selendi/Manisa, after the refusal of a coffee shop owner to serve tea to a Romani individual on the New Year’s Eve of 2010, a heated argument started. The day after the argument, the non-Romani majority attacked the Romani neighbourhood. The local governor offered monetary compensation for the Roma to leave the neighbourhood. The Romani residents accepted and did move out because of the constant assaults that they faced. 38 accused people were sentenced to 8–45 years for damaging to property and provoking people to be rancorous and hostile (Vardar, 2015b).