Press Release: “Roman Havası” series should be taken off the air, apology should be made to Roma people!

The series “Roman Havası”, which was recently broadcast on Show TV, has deeply saddened Romani citizens living in Turkey. This series is the latest example of the media’s discriminatory approach towards Romani people in Turkey. The mainstream Turkish media, which prefers to remain silent when it comes to issues that deeply affect Romani people’s lives, sees no harm in presenting Romani people’s lives as an element of entertainment and comedy through stereotypes that have no connection to reality for the sake of ratings.

“Roman Havası” is not the first of its kind. We have sadly seen this “atmosphere” that belittles Romani people in the “Gırgırıye” series in the 1980s, “Darbükatör Bayram” and “Yasemince” in the 1990s, and “Cennet Mahallesi” and “Görgüsüzler” in the 2000s. Although many things have changed in Romani people’s lives in the last 30 years, nothing has changed in the way Romani people are represented in the media.

The image of Roma that will be formed in the mind of someone who has never had any contact with Roma people in their life or a child who has never heard anything about Roma society and culture before after watching “Roman Havası” is as follows: Roma people are “people who have nothing but fun and fighting in their lives, are carefree, carefree, worship money, are in love with making money easily, disregard the most basic human values ​​for their own interests, lack basic moral values, engage in behaviors that are against social ethics such as theft and fraud, have no share of civilization, are foul-mouthed and unbalanced.” Claiming to portray the lives of Roma people as “sympathetic,” this series openly spreads prejudices and discriminatory views towards an ethnic group through the screens. “Roman Havası” attacks the personality, identity, culture and honor of Roma people on one of Turkey’s largest TV channels, in front of 75 million people.

This series, which reduces the lives of Roma people to an object of fantasy, is completely disconnected from reality and masks the real problems of Roma people. Romani people have very serious and urgent problems waiting to be solved. Romani people, one of the most disadvantaged groups in Turkish society, struggle with problems stemming from poverty, social exclusion and discrimination. Romani people have difficulties in accessing their most basic citizenship rights, which are education, employment and housing. Discriminatory statements and hate speech that the media occasionally circulates against Romani people reinforce and reproduce existing prejudices in society, causing fragile groups like Romani people to be further excluded and triggering discrimination experienced by Romani people in education, employment and housing. Romani people have become the target of hate crimes and lynching attempts in recent years. The lynching attempts against Romani people in the Selendi district of Manisa in 2010 and in the Osmangazi and İznik districts of Bursa in 2013 are the most painful examples of the extent to which discrimination against Romani people can reach in Turkey.

Romani neighborhoods are not places where people “shoot and bang and dance” as depicted in the series! In particular, the urban transformation projects implemented in recent years have pushed the Romani into deeper poverty and exclusion. Urban transformation projects are destroying the Romani living spaces, cultures, human relations shaped within the neighborhood culture and institutions of solidarity. The series in question, which do not address any of the problems of the Romani, portray the lives of the Romani as if they were a fairy tale. We invite the mainstream media outlets, which only see Romani dance and music when it comes to the Romani and ignore the most heartbreaking problems of the Romani, to self-criticize.

“Roman Havası” humiliates Romani women the most! In this series, Romani women are reduced to an object of desire, their struggle for life is ignored and they are brought to the forefront with their bodies and sexuality. However, women are the ones who experience the burden of poverty and exclusion most deeply in the Romani society.

Romani people are among the ancient peoples of these lands. “Roman Havası” ignores the cultural accumulation that the Romani have created in these lands over 1000 years and empties the culture. We value Romani culture being

a part of the artistic and cultural life in Turkey. However, it is never acceptable for artistic production to degenerate Romani culture and for Romani people to be represented in a way that does not befit human dignity! We call on artists who have a wide influence in society and are role models especially for young people to act responsibly in protecting the cultural heritage of Romani people and representing them in the public sphere!

We believe that lack of contact and lack of communication lie at the root of prejudices. We invite media members, artists and filmmakers to our neighborhoods to see the reality of Romani people and to produce sensitive artistic products built on this reality.

The discrimination produced by programs such as “Roman Havası” undermines the desire of Romani people to live as honorable citizens in this country.

It also targets the desire of the Turkish society to live together.

This issue is not only the issue of the Romani people, but also the issue of everyone who believes in the ideal of a Turkey where there is no discrimination and all citizens live in a manner befitting human dignity!

As Romani civil society organizations and anti-racist activists fighting for rights all over Turkey, we demand that the management of Show TV and the series producers apologize to the Romani citizens and that the series be removed from the air immediately!

We call on the democratic Turkish public, human rights activists, sensitive media members and the art community to stand in solidarity with the Romani people!

We call on the relevant public institutions, especially RTÜK, to take action!

Romani NGOs in the Public-NGO Dialogue Group for the Romani People

Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism Platform

Romani NGOs in the Public-NGO Dialogue Group for the Romani People;

Zero Discrimination Association (Istanbul)
Akhisar Roma Center Federation (Manisa)
Edirne Roma Associations Federation (Edirne)
Adana Roma Assistance Solidarity and Culture Association (Adana)
Bursa Roma Association (Bursa)
Dikili Roma Association (Izmir)
Diyarbakir Roma and Dom Youth Culture Association (Diyarbakir)
Edirne Roma Education Volunteers Association (Edirne)
Gaziantep Drummers and Zurna Players Solidarity and Assistance Association (Gaziantep)
Gaziantep Martyr Kamil Tribes Solidarity and Assistance Culture Association (Gaziantep)
Cultural Research and Solidarity Association – LOMDER (Artvin)
Tire Roma Association – TİROMDER (Izmir)

Note: Our press text is the same in Istanbul, Edirne, Izmir, Adana, Manisa, Bursa, Artvin, Gaziantep, Diyarbakir and Samsun will be announced at the time.