BY NICHOLAS BIRCH
Their clarinetists revolutionized Roma music and their flamboyant dancers once were featured in a James Bond film. Today, the inhabitants of Sulukule, one of the world’s oldest settled Roma communities, face eviction, as Istanbul spruces itself up for 2010, when the city will enjoy the designation as the European Capital of Culture. Officials insist the resettlement policy is benefiting those being displaced. But some Roma advocates suggest the government action is rooted in prejudice. Others say the debate exposes deeper problems with urban renewal efforts.
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