City

analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action

ISSN: 1360-4813 (Print) 1470-3629 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ccit20

‘Sulukule is the gun and we are its bullets': Urban

renewal and Romani identity in Istanbul

Danielle van Dobben Schoon

To cite this article: Danielle van Dobben Schoon (2014) ‘Sulukule is the gun and we
are its bullets': Urban renewal and Romani identity in Istanbul, City, 18:6, 655-666, DOI:
10.1080/13604813.2014.962885

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2014.962885

Published online: 28 Nov 2014.

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CITY, 2014
VOL. 18, NO. 6, 655 –666, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2014.962885

‘Sulukule is the gun and we are

its bullets’
Urban renewal and Romani identity in
Istanbul

Danielle van Dobben Schoon

This paper examines how the controversial demolition of Sulukule, a Romani (Gypsy)
neighborhood in Istanbul, instigated connections between transnational Romani rights
and ‘right to the city’ actor networks, creating new possibilities for the explicit participation
of the neighborhood’s dislocated residents in urban politics. These connections inextricably
linked the neighborhood to the politics of Romani identity and urban renewal in Istanbul. I
argue that Sulukule is not only ‘made’ in its place; the meaning of the neighborhood and its
demolition expands and changes as it travels and encounters various (often competing)
agendas. Analyzing the conflict that arose over a hip-hop film that takes place in Sulukule,
I show how a particular formation of Romani identity emerges from the dynamics of
various actors in the neighborhood. This identity—as urban, politically engaged and a
source of resistance against oppressive global forces—travels along urban rights and
Romani rights activist networks and gains far-reaching salience and durability.
Highlighting the global connections that are made and broken around a demolished
neighborhood in Istanbul demonstrates the potential impacts of a seemingly singular
event on urban politics.

Key words: assemblage, Roma, identity, urban renewal, Istanbul, hip hop

rubble and piles of things left behind. He

A
young man in a hoodie is running has lost the police for now, but he continues
from the zabıta (municipal police). to run. The camera pulls back, offering
The police car chases him through viewers the larger picture: we are in Sulukule,
an Istanbul ghetto with streets lined in or at least what is left of the neighborhood
trash. The crumbling buildings show few after its infamous demolition. From the
signs of their former residents—no doors or trash and the empty homes and the graffiti,
windows, just gaping holes, and graffiti on the camera zooms out and away, moving
the walls. The boy turns a corner where a over the new housing development that
spray-painted sign on a metal fence ironically replaced the old homes of Sulukule. Where
admonishes people: ‘Buraya çöp atmayınız’ eclectic and colorfully painted two-story
(Don’t throw trash here). He ducks through buildings used to crowd up against each
a gutted building, jumping over concrete other and press close to the Theodosian

# 2014 Taylor & Francis

656 CITY VOL. 18, NO. 6

Wall, now there are condominiums: clean, urban politics. In the scene described above,
new and identical. They rise out of the three young rappers are charged with pro-
center of the neighborhood and seem tecting the city; they are sent out by the
to threaten the remaining homes with ‘Gypsy King’, armed with art and music, to
prospects of future demolitions, future stop the demolitions that are razing historic
‘improvement’. and low-income neighborhoods and transfer-
The camera then dives back into the neigh- ring them to the middle and upper classes of
borhood and takes us into a home where Turkish society (the line, ‘Today it’s Sulu-
rapper, Fuat Ergin, sits on a plush red seat, kule, tomorrow Balat, Okmeydanı, Tarla-
wearing an army jacket and a mock crown. başı, Gezi Parkı’, refers to other areas in
He is the stereotypical yet contemporary Istanbul undergoing urban renewal). The
version of the ‘Gypsy King’, flanked by two suggestion that marginalized Romani resi-
men in suits, the cut and fabric of which dents of Istanbul might have the power to
signal associations with the mafia. The stop these redevelopment projects may seem
young man who escaped the police stands exaggerated. Yet, the film dramatizes a
with two other young men, presenting them- reality in Istanbul today: the controversial
selves before the king, who instructs them: demolition of Sulukule has instigated global
connections between Romani rights and
‘They’re at the gates to knock down our ‘right to the city’4 activist networks, creating
neighborhood new possibilities for the explicit participation
Today it’s Sulukule, tomorrow Balat, of the neighborhood’s dislocated Romani
Okmeydanı, Tarlabaşı, Gezi Parkı residents in urban politics. This paper
Time’s running out explores the ‘productive friction’ and ‘contin-
They’re taking from the poor and giving gent collaborations’ (Tsing 2005, 3) that
to the rich afford the dislocated residents of Sulukule
Knocked down the shanties to build limited agency in the politics of urban
expensive apartments redevelopment.
Let art and music be your armaments.’ Second, the images in this first scene of
Tahribad-ı İsyan,1 Wonderland prompt questions about the
‘Stop the Demolitions!’ relationship between Sulukule’s dislocated
residents and their built environment. There
Located in central Istanbul, Sulukule was a is a clear distinction in the film between the
largely Romani (Gypsy)2 neighborhood partially demolished homes of the old neigh-
famous for its professional musicians and borhood and the new housing development;
dancers. It had also gained a reputation as a the young man belongs to the former space
seedy and dangerous ghetto associated with and does not have access to the latter. The
prostitution and drugs. Today, Sulukule is film brings us into Sulukule as it exists
notorious for the ‘urban renewal’ project today: no longer a neighborhood in real
that eventually resulted in its demolition, a space and time or a name on a map, nonethe-
project that attracted global attention to the less it is a place that continues to echo beyond
systematic dislocation of Istanbul’s margina- its demolition. Later in the film, Vz raps, ‘I’m
lized residents from inner-city neighbor- not settled in Sulukule but I live there’ (Sulu-
hoods for land redevelopment. This scene kule’de oturmuyorum ama yaşıyorum),
from the film Wonderland3 takes place in which expresses a common sentiment
and around the demolition site and directs among dislocated residents that Sulukule is
attention to three interrelated themes still their home. The new housing develop-
addressed in this paper. ment, on the other hand, stands as a symbol
The first theme is the role of dislocated (onerous for some) of Istanbul’s future as a
Romani youth from Sulukule in Istanbul’s ‘global city’. The experiences and interactions
 SCHOON: ‘SULUKULE IS THE GUN AND WE ARE ITS BULLETS’ 657

Romani youth have with the demolition and First, I offer a brief history of Sulukule
construction sites in Sulukule directly assemblages, drawing attention to space/
inform their understanding of and involve- place as an effect of associations. Sulukule is
ment in Istanbul’s urban politics. enacted and assembled at multiple sites that
Third, the relationship of the local to the are connected by various actor networks.
global, or inside to outside, is a central ‘Sulukule assemblages’ (plural) refers to
theme in Wonderland. Beginning in the these multiple enactments (Farı́as 2010, 15).
narrow streets of Sulukule, the camera I then detail a contentious encounter
zooms out to establish the larger context of between activists, artists and Sulukule youth
land redevelopment and the dispossession of that occurred due to the violence portrayed
marginalized urban citizens, issues of major in Wonderland by the hip-hop group Tahri-
concern in Istanbul today. This paper exe- bad-ı İsyan (Revolt’s Destruction). This
cutes a similar maneuver: an investigation demonstrates the multiple competing
into the dynamics of a particular neighbor- agendas surrounding Sulukule and points to
hood that explores its global connections. how global connections instigated by Sulu-
Yet, rather than proposing that global forces kule’s demolition continue to create new
are simply acting upon local objects, I paths for engagement with urban renewal
examine ‘through which vehicles, which and Romani identity in Turkey. I argue that
traces, which trails, which types of infor- Romani identity does not emerge as either a
mation, the world is being brought inside [a reflection of or a resistance to larger social
place] and then, after having been trans- forces; rather, it is performed and contested
formed there . . . pumped back out of its within contingent socio-material associations
narrow walls’ (Latour 2005, 179– 180). In between various actors and networks.
other words, I am interested in how the
abstract concept of the ‘global’ gets actua-
lized in concrete, local places (Farı́as 2010, Situating Sulukule
15). However, Sulukule is not only ‘made’
in its place; the meaning of the neighborhood An extensive body of academic literature has
and its demolition expands and changes as it been produced about Sulukule that frames
travels (by vehicles such as Wonderland) the importance of the neighborhood within
and encounters various (often competing) larger issues, such as heritage preservation
agendas. (Aksoy and Robins 2011; Gürsoy 2009),
These three interrelated issues inform the urban development and gentrification
central concern of this paper, which is the (Dinçer 2011; Ingin and Islam 2011; Islam
assemblage of Sulukule Romani identity and 2010; Karaman and Islam 2012; Potuoğlu-
the politics of urban renewal in Istanbul. Cook 2010, 2011), and social movements
Drawing from some of the principles of (Foggo 2007; Gökçen 2009; Somersan and
actor – network theory (ANT)5 and oriented Kirca-Schroeder 2010; Uysal 2012). These
by ‘assemblage thinking’ (McFarlane 2011), I works carefully explore the macro-economic
analyze Sulukule as both an effect of associ- and political processes that create the con-
ations between multiple actor networks and ditions for urban renewal and the displace-
as the site where Romani identity is mobilized ment of marginalized citizens in Istanbul.
(as in, made capable of movement). I demon- Taken together, they draw a grim picture of
strate how one particular formation of a neoliberal regime acting upon the spaces
Romani identity (urban, politically engaged of the city. Although a political economic
and a source of resistance against oppressive analysis rightly positions urban renewal
global forces) travels via urban rights and within shifting regimes of property, govern-
Romani rights activist networks and thus ance and capital in contemporary Istanbul,
gains far-reaching salience and durability. such an analysis marginalizes the agency of
658 CITY VOL. 18, NO. 6

individuals actively engaged in reshaping networks in Sulukule (DeLanda 2006, 4 – 5),

themselves and their city. The dominant and what these global connections generate.
way of understanding Sulukule—as one
example of the dispossession and displace-
ment of the urban poor under a neoliberal Sulukule assemblages
regime—is incomplete in that it fails to pay
attention to the work of assembling. How Although the neighborhood was demolished,
does the conjunction of actors, ideas and pro- Sulukule remains a powerful touchstone that
jects in Sulukule shape the multiple trajec- contributes to various narratives of the ills of
tories of the neighborhood? And, further, neoliberalism and the persecution of the
how does Romani identity get linked to this Romani people. I briefly trace various Sulu-
neighborhood? kule assemblages to demonstrate the effort
Understanding Sulukule as generated by that has gone into defining (and redefining)
actor networks in multiple sites does not the physical and symbolic boundaries
preclude recognition of the structural (Latour 2005, 28– 29) of the neighborhood
effects of capitalism; however, it does avoid and its dislocated residents. Sulukule is
positing neoliberalism as a machine or relentlessly being assembled at various sites
master narrative. Ozan Karaman (2012) of practice; these assemblages constitute mul-
suggests an interface between political econ- tiple Sulukules that are mobilized according
omic and assemblage approaches to the city; to the agendas of different groups.
his ‘immanentist approach’ proposes that the Sulukule was located in the Neslişah and
interactions between governmental insti- Hatice Sultan quarters of the Fatih municipal-
tutions, urban social movements, city dwell- ity and attracted both locals and foreigners to
ers and other urban social formations its eğlence evleri (entertainment houses) until
‘exceed the event of the encounter, in the they were shut down by the municipality in
sense that they are not simple interactions the late 1990s. In 2006, the municipality
between parts of a single determinate total- received authorization from the Turkish
ity; rather, the interactions between the Cabinet to expropriate the entire neighbor-
parts are contingent and generative of new hood for renewal and development. Despite
connections between them’ (1292– 1293). efforts by activists to prevent the project,
While none of these interactions can be most of the remaining houses in Sulukule
traced back to a totalizing essence, like neo- were demolished in November 2009, replaced
liberalism, a structure of domination exists; by so-called ‘neo-Ottoman’ condominiums.
yet ‘the structure is a cause immanent in its The residents who could present legal docu-
effects’ (1297). To interrogate Sulukule in mentation of home ownership were offered
terms of its assemblages is not, therefore, a units in TOKİ-built apartment blocks6 in
denial of the structural inequalities that Taşoluk, 40 km northwest of the city center.
allow for the displacement of the urban However, Taşoluk offered few employment
poor, but rather an exploration of how opportunities and only four families are
such inequalities emerge from the relation- known to have remained there, while another
ships between actor networks in particular 850 families dispersed. About 40% of the Sulu-
places. Furthermore, such an approach can kule population now lives in the neighborhood
better account for the agency of individuals up the hill from their previous homes, Kara-
in these places. While attempts have been gümrük, where some activists and non-govern-
made to reveal ‘what Sulukule is, or was, mental organizations (NGOs) remain active
or still even could be, actually about’ with the dislocated community.
(Robins 2011, 37), extant scholarship has The juxtaposition of the demolished
overlooked what new connections emerge homes and neo-Ottoman condominiums in
from the interactions of various actors and Wonderland parallels the lived experiences of
 SCHOON: ‘SULUKULE IS THE GUN AND WE ARE ITS BULLETS’ 659

Sulukule’s Romani people in Karagümrük. (Dernekler Kanunu) enabled these associ-

The interactions of the dislocated residents ations and facilitated their cooperation with
with their new built environment, as well as international organizations, introducing
their memories of the old neighborhood, opportunities for funds from the European
shape how they perceive the city and their Union. Since 2004, Romani associations
place in it. The neo-Ottoman condominiums have been founded in cities all over Turkey.
that replaced their old homes are interpreted The mobilization of Romani rights in
by the dislocated residents and activists alike Turkey increased significantly with the
as an ironic displacement of people with a threat of demolition in Sulukule (Arkılıç
real claim to Ottoman heritage for a fabricated 2008, 29). The most prominent coalition of
version of Ottoman architecture that appeals Romani rights and ‘right to the city’ activists
to middle and upper class desires.7 Perhaps was formed between the Sulukule Romani
more impactful than the symbolic meaning Culture Development and Solidarity Associ-
of the new development is the physical bound- ation (Sulukule Roman Kültürünü Geliştirme
ary between Karagümrük and the housing ve Dayanısma Derneği) and the Human Settle-
development. The metal fences invite all ments Association. This coalition, known as
kinds of interventions from the Romani the Sulukule Platform, initiated a movement
youth, especially graffiti art, forms of vandal- called ‘We Must Save Sulukule’, organizing
ism and attempts to gain entrance. Zabıta benefit concerts and street rallies, circulating
patrol the boundary between the neighbor- petitions against the demolition and giving
hoods, creating an atmosphere of surveillance, hundreds of press conferences in Turkey and
but this only mobilizes Romani youth to find abroad. The stated aim of the Sulukule Plat-
ever more creative ways of rebelling against form was to convince the city to rehabilitate
the policing of a space over which they still the neighborhood rather than to demolish it,
feel a strong sense of ownership. emphasizing the historical importance of the
Alongside the destructive actions of the area and the tangible and intangible heritage
bulldozers that left a razed neighborhood of its residents.9 Local and international jour-
and a dislocated community, much was also nalists and artists got involved, initiating a pro-
produced in and through Sulukule (see also liferation of public discussions about
Potuoǧlu-Cook 2010, 101 – 102). In particu- Sulukule’s Romani culture and its potential
lar, new connections were forged between loss. International organizations also got
Turkish and international rights organiz- involved, including the European Roma
ations that resulted in new regimes of knowl- Rights Centre (ERRC), the US Helsinki Com-
edge, interventions by NGOs and activists, mission and the Open Society Foundations.
and flows of material resources. The neigh- The public importance and social impact of
borhood’s demolition drew attention from the neighborhood, its community and its
European Romani rights activists and demolition grew as activists, artists, aca-
NGOs to the situation of the Romani demics, politicians and the media added to
people in Turkey.8 As a persistent minority, the narrative. This has resulted in a kind of
the Roma are socially marginalized, particu- common ‘knowing’ that has evolved around
larly in the areas of education, employment, Sulukule, so that when the neighborhood is
health and housing. Social discrimination is mentioned (whether in print or in conversa-
a shared experience among the Romani tion), there is an unspoken consensus about
people of Turkey, yet only recently has a what is being discussed: the dispossession
sense of solidarity emerged. This shift is and displacement of the poor in historic city
largely due to the mobilization of Romani centers in favor of state-led gentrification.
rights groups and the organization of This urban knowledge circulates so that the
Romani associations (dernek) in the last symbolic weight of Sulukule continues to
decade. Turkey’s 2004 Law on Associations reverberate along multiple networks, not
660 CITY VOL. 18, NO. 6

only tying various collectivities in Istanbul settlement popular for its tradition of dance
together, but also extending beyond Turkey and music endangered by urban renewal’
to transnational discourses and rights move- (4 –5). This framing, he claims, did not rep-
ments. These relationships exist within a con- resent the views of some of Sulukule’s resi-
stantly emerging set of tensions between dents who were not musicians and were not
various claims to what Sulukule represents. opposed to the urban renewal project (27 –
Alongside new alliances produced around 28). This rare portrayal of Sulukule as a ‘con-
Sulukule, there have also emerged clashing flict-ridden neighborhood’ (4) reflects con-
agendas, failed attempts at lasting solidarity tradictions evident in my own fieldwork.
and conflicts over resources. The dislocated residents of Sulukule have
It is precisely because Sulukule no longer experienced major hardships; yet, the inter-
exists as a place on the map that its meaning ventions of the Sulukule Platform resulted
is contentious; its absence allows for contests in many of them obtaining state identity
over the ability to define its symbolic cards and health insurance for the first time
meaning. In my interviews with activists, in their lives. Similarly, many of the Sulukule
they often attempted to explain why the children now living in Karagümrük are
demolition occurred despite such an active enrolled in school and getting educational
and far-reaching movement against it. All of support from NGOs. Some of the dislocated
the activists agreed that Sulukule stands as residents expressed to me that, although the
an example of what will happen to Istanbul urban renewal project in their neighborhood
if they fail to resist the neoliberal state’s should have allowed them to stay in Sulukule
urban renewal agenda. However, some told but receive adequate social services, the
me that it had been a mistake of the Sulukule demolition ended up affording them many
Platform to frame the issue as one of Romani opportunities.11 The Sulukule Platform did
rights, because less of the general Turkish not, in this sense, fail to ‘save Sulukule’. In
population related to that cause than they terms of public awareness of Romani rights
do to gentrification and urban renewal per issues in Turkey, as well as international
se. Other activists told me it was a straight- awareness of Turkish Romani politics, the
forward matter of social injustice, framed movement was successful.
either as neoliberal state oppression or as The Sulukule Children’s Art Atelier (Sulu-
part of the history of persecution of Romani kule Çocuk Sanat Atölyesi) in Karagümrük is
people. Finally, a third explanation was that the manifestation of this success. The atelier
the Romani residents of Sulukule did not was officially opened in 2010 and the hip-
become actively engaged in their own cause. hop group Tahribad-ı İsyan found support
Although there were residents who resisted and flourished there. The advocacy and pro-
the demolitions by chaining themselves to motion of the group by the atelier’s director,
bulldozers or refusing to leave their homes, Funda Oral, has garnered the attention of
others apparently did not participate in the many Turkish and international journalists,
resistance and sold their homes willingly.10 artists, academics and activists, and resulted
These conflicting representations point to a in various projects, including music videos,
disjuncture rarely addressed in either the local concerts, art installations and a song on
media or the academic literature about Sulu- Amnesty International’s Listen to Roma
kule. One exception is the research by Rights CD. One particular non-profit arts
Serkan Yolacan (2008) that points out that and cultural organization based in London,
the international media portrayed Sulukule OpenVizor, initiated a large project with the
as primarily a flashpoint of contestations group called Sulukule Hip Hop Tiyatrosu
over urban renewal in Turkey, so that only (Sulukule Hip Hop Theatre). The director,
one aspect of the neighborhood came to rep- Abbas Nokhasteh, brought London-based
resent the whole: an ‘authentic Gypsy/Roma hip-hop artist, Jonzi D, to the atelier to work
 SCHOON: ‘SULUKULE IS THE GUN AND WE ARE ITS BULLETS’ 661

with the group and took Slang, Zen-G and Vz politically active participants in resistance to
to London to participate in a hip-hop festival. a neoliberal bulldozing machine. As Vz raps
He also brought Tahribad-ı İsyan and various in Tahribad-ı İsyan’s song ‘Ghetto Machines’,
Turkish artists together to create a play called ‘Sulukule is the gun and we are its bullets’,
Sahnede İsyan (Revolt on Stage). indicating the politicization of the group and
Sulukule is indeed salvaged again and again suggesting that the demolition has made
by the discourses and practices put into them into a force that is going out into the
motion by the Sulukule Platform and repeated world. Although it emerges from Sulukule
in ongoing movements against urban renewal assemblages, this Romani identity also ‘plugs
in Istanbul today. In fact, the movement in’ to other assemblages (DeLanda 2006,
against Sulukule’s demolition contributed in 208), particularly the Gezi Park protest move-
large part to the forming of networks that ment, where it takes on new meaning.
are still active in the ‘right to the city’ move-
ment in Istanbul and that initiated the Gezi
Park protests of 2013 that spread throughout Productive friction and contingent
Turkey and garnered significant international collaborations
attention.12 Despite multiple appropriations
of Sulukule for various causes, the narrative Wonderland was shown to thousands of visi-
of Romani dispossession and resistance tors at the Istanbul 2013 Biennial shortly
gained prominence through the work of the after the Gezi Park protests. Although it had
Sulukule Platform, ultimately creating the been filmed before the protests, Wonderland
conditions for the reception and success of was chosen to be included in the Biennial
Tahribad-ı İsyan and Wonderland. because it spoke to the concerns of gentrifica-
tion and the displacement of the urban poor.
‘We pissed on the foundations of the newly
Romani identity in an Istanbul ghetto built blocks, cuz I was pissed at TOKİ’, Vz
raps in the film. ‘My town will be torn down
The connections between Romani rights and too. Sulukule now belongs to the bourgeoisie.’
‘right to the city’ networks enabled collabor- Sulukule was once again appropriated as a ral-
ations like the one between Tahribad-ı İsyan lying cry by ‘right to the city’ activists and the
and OpenVizor, as they enabled the film Won- music of Tahribad-ı İsyan became the sound-
derland. However, these associations are made track for an urban resistance movement. As
up of uncertain, fragile ties; the work that goes reported by Jenna Krajeski (2013) for Bülent
into maintaining them is traceable via Journal of Contemporary Turkey:
instances of conflict and controversy (Latour
2005, 28–29). Drawing from my ethnographic ‘Activists took notice of Sulukule, and the
fieldwork in Karagümrük,13 I examine a con- neighbourhood became iconic for those
tentious encounter between the Sulukule Plat- opposed to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
form, Tahribad-ı İsyan and OpenVizor, Erdoğan and his plans for the urban
drawing attention to ‘the many contradictory transformation of Istanbul. During the Gezi
ways in which social aggregates are constantly park protests, mere mention of the
neighbourhood implied a political
evoked, erased, distributed, and reallocated’
declaration, and when the 2013 Istanbul
(Latour 2005, 41). Following Anna Tsing’s Biennial became reframed to comment on
(2005) notion of ‘the productive friction of urban development, Sulukule . . . was
global encounters’ (3), I focus on what is gen- translated into works of art, like
erated in articulation with the competing Wonderland.’14
agendas of transnational activist networks in
Sulukule: a particular formation of urban Similarly, the director of the film, Halil
Romani identity that posits the Roma as Altındere, suggested that the rappers of
662 CITY VOL. 18, NO. 6

Figure 1 Slang, Zen-G and Vz pose against the backdrop of the Theodosian Wall near the old neighborhood of Sulukule
(Photo: Nejla Osseiran, used with permission)

Tahribad-ı İsyan are representative of current ‘Statement about Sulukule Arts and Civil
urban politics in Istanbul and the way that Society’ on behalf of OpenVizor:
Turkey’s youth are being galvanized (Figure 1).
The film acquired another level of meaning ‘The demolition in 2009 of Sulukule . . . can
in the context of Gezi, particularly due to its be defined as an act of violence by state and
commercial authorities. However, the
depiction of violence against the police. At
people of Sulukule did not react with
the end of the film, the members of Tahri-
violence towards these symbols of
bad-ı İsyan are shown beating up and authority. This is a paradox, a disarming
setting fire to a zabıta officer who is guarding defiance by a community refusing to be
the new housing development in Sulukule. victims of circumstance. . . . This positive
This garnered mixed reactions. For urban defiance is expressed by supporting each
activists, the film was received as part of other and the work of local associations,
ongoing efforts to point out the injustices of for the future of young people. . . . We do
urban renewal in Istanbul. For others, not believe in violence towards others as a
however, the violence portrayed in the film force for transformation and change. We do
went too far. Some activists expressed not believe that the images of a police
officer being beaten and burned by
concern that the violence depicted in the
youngsters are constructive, challenging
film might undermine the cause by reinfor-
or relevant. . . . Together through our
cing stereotypes about the Romani people voices and partnerships, we [support] the
as aggressive and violent, further justifying message of love, community and
demolitions like the one in Sulukule.15 In par- togetherness, the forces that brought us to
ticular, the film provoked a strong reaction and sustain us in Sulukule. . . . We invite
from Abbas Nokhasteh, who released a you to join us in engaging, celebrating
 SCHOON: ‘SULUKULE IS THE GUN AND WE ARE ITS BULLETS’ 663

and supporting this ancient and culturally Any tensions or conflicts between various
vital community.’16 representations of the neighborhood are
overlooked in OpenVizor’s statement. The
Mr Nokhasteh asked Funda Oral and other dislocated Romani people are encouraged to
members of the Sulukule Platform to defy the ‘state and commercial authorities’,
support and distribute his organization’s but in non-violent ways best exemplified in
statement against the violence in Wonderland. their support of NGOs in their community.
They responded with a refusal based on the At the end of the statement ‘we’ are all
following points: first, they did not believe invited to engage in and support Sulukule,
that such a declaration would change the situ- but the power dynamics that make that poss-
ation for the children of Sulukule; second, ible are not addressed. Mr Nokhasteh over-
they did not believe that the goals of the Sulu- looks the agency of the members of
kule Platform would be negatively affected by Tahribad-ı İsyan by assuming that their
the film; third, Tahribad-ı İsyan approved of involvement in Wonderland merely reflects
and willingly participated in the film, so the their exploitation within the music industry
activists wanted to stand by them; and and the ambitions of the artists who created
fourth, by the time the statement had been and distributed the film.18 Yet, the position
released, the Biennial was over and it did not of OpenVizor to speak on behalf of the Sulu-
seem appropriate to condemn the film after kule Romani community is not questioned.
it had garnered so much local support and OpenVizor’s hip-hop theater project,
attention. Nor did the activists want to nega- Revolt on Stage, was never performed live,
tively impact their relationship with the Bien- but the play and behind-the-scenes shots of
nial installation organizers and the director its planning and practice stages were com-
and producers of Wonderland, who had been piled and released on video in May 2013,19
supportive not only of Tahribad-ı İsyan, but shortly before the Gezi Park protests
also of the mission of the atelier.17 After erupted. The video did not garner the kind
receiving this refusal, Mr Nokhasteh ended of attention that Wonderland did, but it por-
OpenVizor’s relationship with the atelier trays the efforts of OpenVizor to create a
and withdrew financial support. community project that would positively
OpenVizor’s statement against Wonder- impact the young people who attend the
land exemplifies the tensions that exist in atelier. The youth of the neighborhood are
competing attempts to represent Sulukule presented together on stage as a group
according to a particular cause. The statement unified by hip-hop music and dance, and
claims that the film prompted ‘overwhelming the themes of the play deal with local issues
concern by young people and parents in Sulu- the youth can relate to, such as unemploy-
kule’, which suggests that not all of the dislo- ment, the expectations of their parents and
cated Sulukule residents felt that the film their aspirations to make better lives for
represented them. It also emphasizes that, themselves outside of the neighborhood. In
even though the demolition was an act of vio- one scene, as Zen-G spray paints ‘Açın halin-
lence on the part of the municipality, the den TOKİ anlamaz!’ (TOKİ doesn’t under-
people of Sulukule did not respond with vio- stand the hungry) on a metal fence, Slang
lence themselves. Mr Nokhasteh calls this a raps about his plans to leave the ghetto and
‘beautiful and inspirational paradox’ and an buy his mother a house. The politics of
example of ‘positive defiance’ on the part of urban renewal form the backdrop of the
a people ‘with a strong resilience’. He goes play, but are not explicitly addressed. The
on to paint a picture of Sulukule as sustained young people are engaged in ‘positive defi-
by the forces of ‘love, community and ance’ via the performance of hip-hop,
togetherness’, quite different from the within the parameters of a particular version
picture of resistance offered by Wonderland. of the genre that celebrates the expression of
664 CITY VOL. 18, NO. 6

local culture and rejects violent engagements participants, and were also invited to perform
with the authorities. OpenVizor represents at a protest concert, ‘Stand Up’ (Ayağa Kalk),
the conditions of the ghetto as an obstacle organized by Taksim Solidarity.21
to overcome and suggests that music and Tahribad-ı İsyan’s participation in both the
dance can empower young people to OpenVizor and Wonderland projects exem-
improve their own circumstances. plifies the flexibility and contingency of
Wonderland’s portrayal, on the other hand, group identity. Yet, their involvement in the
suggests that Sulukule’s Romani residents are Gezi Park protests points to the strengthen-
active urban citizens and participants in the ing of ties between Sulukule and non-
making of the city, even if that involves Romani urban rights activists. Urban
violent resistance against a state that is Romani identity as portrayed in Wonderland
making recourse to authoritarian tactics. The finds durability and salience among Istanbul’s
ghetto is not portrayed as a site of hope for ‘right to the city’ actor networks as it links up
the future of its youth; their ‘Wonderland’ is with the interests of the Gezi Park protests.
the utopian vision of Istanbul as a ‘global city’
gone terribly wrong. The film speaks to Tahri-
bad-ı İsyan’s inheritance as displaced youth on Conclusions
the margins of Istanbul society, living in a
highly policed neighborhood with soaring While it is tempting to interpret Wonderland as
unemployment and crime rates. However, the merely another instance of resistance against a
rappers seem to embrace the ghetto as a neoliberal regime, assemblage thinking invites
source of ‘street cred’; the film justifies their us to question how Romani identity is
use of violence by situating it within their assembled in concrete, local places and in
experiences of marginalization and dislocation. articulation with transnational actor networks.
This portrayal of Sulukule took on increasing Implicit in that question are contestations over
resonance in the aftermath of the Gezi Park for and by whom, and under what terms that
protests, as the members of Tahribad-ı İsyan identity is made visible. The disagreement
are shown wearing bandanas over their faces, between OpenVizor and the Sulukule Platform
raising fists, battling bulldozers and throwing over Wonderland helps us think more carefully
Molotov cocktails, images that were frequently about what is generated by urban assemblages.
evoked in media coverage of the protests. Urban Romani identity is informed by the
The Gezi Park protests were initially dynamics of various Sulukule assemblages
intended to contest the urban development that include interactions between actor net-
project for a central public gathering space, works with competing interests in the neigh-
Taksim’s Gezi Park, but snowballed into a borhood. Tahribad-ı İsyan is shaped within
broader movement when protesters were vio- these dynamics: neo-Ottoman condominiums
lently evicted from a sit-in by police. Partici- surrounded by metal fences and guarded by
pants grew to include environmentalists, municipal police; limited employment oppor-
anarchists, socialists, communists, feminists, tunities outside of the possibility of success as
labor unions, Kurds, LGBT (lesbian, gay, hip-hop artists; and the networks of urban
bisexual and transgender) groups and more. activists and artists linking Sulukule to
Many of the Sulukule Platform members agendas that originate outside of the neigh-
were directly involved in the protests, but con- borhood. Tahribad-ı İsyan’s success with
spicuously absent were representatives of the Wonderland affected the mobilization of a
Romani associations. As one Romani activist particular conception of Sulukule: the demoli-
from Edirne told me, ‘Other Romanlar are tion of the neighborhood as emblematic of
not here and they are against us.’20 The major urban transformation projects that are reshap-
exception was Tahribad-ı İsyan; the members ing the landscape of Istanbul in favor of com-
of the hip-hop group attended the protests as mercial interests. In the context of the Gezi
 SCHOON: ‘SULUKULE IS THE GUN AND WE ARE ITS BULLETS’ 665

Park protests, the political identity of the African Studies and the College of Social and Behavioral
Sulukule Roma rose to prominence. Sciences at the University of Arizona.
This political identity is not only informed
by the context in which it was shaped; it also
works to inform the direction of urban poli- Notes
tics in Istanbul in ‘mutually constituted sym-
1 Tahribad-ı İsyan is a rap group made up of three
biosis’ (McFarlane 2011, 208). Just as young men who go by the stage names Slang, Vz
Wonderland brought Tahribad-ı İsyan into and Zen-G.
the politics of the Gezi Park protests, offering 2 There are various approaches to usage in Romani
new capacities and potential to urban Romani Studies. Following the scholar Ian Hancock,
identity, these politics inform the direction of I generally use Roma or the adjective Romani
(i.e. ‘the Romani people’), although the Turkish,
Sulukule assemblages, dismantling some net- Roman (sing.) and Romanlar (pl.) are sometimes
works while forming new ones. The concerns also used.
of urban transformation, neoliberalism, gen- 3 Wonderland (Harikalar Diyarı) is a short art film by
trification and the marginalization of min- Halil Altındere in the style of a music video (http://
vimeo.com/78545350).
orities like the Roma are assembled in places
4 The ‘right to the city’ was first proposed by Henri
like Sulukule; their effects travel along the net- Lefebvre and further elaborated by David Harvey.
works that connect a neighborhood in Istan- Urban activists in Istanbul have adopted the idea
bul to a non-profit organization in London. and slogan.
Similarly, we see that the local is generated 5 Actor-network theory avoids essentialist
explanations by studying objects within their social
via ‘many other places, many distant materials,
networks, tracing their symbolic and material
and many faraway actors’ (Latour 2005, 200). relations.
It is through these interactions that a particular 6 TOKİ (Toplu Konut İdaresi Başkanlığı) is Turkey’s
formation of Romani identity has come to find Housing Development Administration.
durability and salience within the contempor- 7 Personal communication (interviews, 2011).
8 Estimates of the current population of Romani
ary urban landscape of Istanbul. Furthermore,
people in Turkey are unreliable as official census
these global connections, via the use of mobile figures do not include the ethnic composition of the
mediums like hip-hop and film, afford both population (Uzpeder et al. 2008) and Turkey’s
activists and the dislocated residents of Sulu- Romani people rarely possess identity cards.
kule limited agency to participate in the Nevertheless, estimates range from 300,000
(Petrova 2004, 10) to 2 million (European
making of their city.
Commission 2006).
9 Sulukule was one of the largest Romani settlements
in the world and it is a commonly held belief that the
Acknowledgements neighborhood was also the oldest Romani
neighborhood in Turkey.
10 This is a complicated issue involving property
I would like to thank Elizabeth Angell, Sarah owners vs. renters, coercion and lack of
El-Kazaz, Timur Hammond, Figen Kelemer, transparency by developers and state agencies,
Amy Mills, Abbas Nokhasteh, Funda Oral, and the passing of housing laws that enable land
Nejla Osseiran, Eric Schoon, Carol Silverman, appropriation (see Kuyucu and Ünsal 2010).
Brian Silverstein, Kevin Yıldırım, Tahribad-ı 11 Personal communication (interviews, 2011).
12 The Gezi Park protests were initially organized by
İsyan and the Sulukule Platform activists for Taksim Dayanışması (Solidarity), an umbrella group
their support and encouragement. of Turkish NGOs and activists, many of which were
also active in the Sulukule Platform.
13 I conducted fieldwork in Turkey from 2011 to 2012
and continue my research via electronic
Funding correspondence with informants. As part of my
fieldwork, I was an English language instructor for
Funding for this research was provided by Fulbright- Tahribad-ı İsyan at the Sulukule Children’s Atelier.
Hays, the Institute of Turkish Studies, and the School 14 ‘Ghetto Machines: Tahribad-ı İsyan’s Rap Rebellion’
of Anthropology, the School of Middle East and North (http://bulentjournal.com/ghetto-machines/).
666 CITY VOL. 18, NO. 6

15 Personal communication (electronic Transformation and Gentrification in Istanbul.”

correspondence, 2014). Architectural Design Special Issue: Turkey: At the
16 The full statement is available at http://www. Threshold 80 (1): 58 –63.
openvizor.com/Content/Index/625 Karaman, O. 2012. “An Immanentist Approach to the
17 Personal communication (electronic Urban.” Antipode 44 (4): 1287–1306.
correspondence, 2014). Karaman, O., and T. Islam. 2012. “On the Dual Nature of
18 Personal communication (electronic Intra-Urban Borders: The Case of a Romani Neigh-
correspondence, 2014). borhood in Istanbul.” Cities 29 (4): 234– 243.
19 http://www.youtube.com/watch? Krajeski, J. 2013. “Ghetto Machines: Tahribad-i İsyan’s
v=wTuKuIVVU80 Rap Rebellion.” Bülent Journal of Contemporary Tur-
20 Personal communication (electronic key. Accessed May 7, 2014. http://bulentjournal.
correspondence, 2013). com/ghetto-machines/
21 One of the rap group’s recent songs is called Kuyucu, T., and Ö. Ünsal. 2010. “‘Urban Transformation’
‘Gezizekalı’, which literally means ‘Gezi-minded’ as State-led Property Transfer: An Analysis of Two
but is a play on the word gerizekalı (’slow-minded’ or Cases of Urban Renewal in Istanbul.” Urban Studies
‘idiot’), a term that has been used by both the Gezi 47 (7): 1479 –1499.
Park protestors and those who oppose them. (Thanks Latour, B. 2005. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction
to Kevin Yıldırım for directing my attention to this.) to Actor-Network Theory. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press.
McFarlane, C. 2011. “Assemblage and critical urbanism.”
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Danielle van Dobben Schoon is a PhD candi-
Ingin, A., and Islam, T. 2011. “The Reordering of a Romani
Neighborhood.” Planning Theory and Practice date in Anthropology and Middle Eastern
12 (1): 125–131. Studies at the University of Arizona. Email:
Islam, T. 2010. “Current Urban Discourse, Urban [email protected]