Romani NGOs Gathered To Resolve Conflicts 

Zero Discrimination Association sought ways to resolve conflicts at the regional meeting organized in Taksim as part of the Monitoring and Advocacy project for Romani Integration.

Representatives of Romani non-governmental organizations, who have attended the meeting from various provinces such as Edirne, Balıkesir, İzmir and Manisa, discussed the reasons for the conflicts between the Romani NGOs. At the meeting, where the struggle of Romani to take part among the civil society was discussed, discussions were made on the culture of working together, solidarity and cooperation.

The President of Romani Youth Association Selçuk Karadeniz begins by saying that Romani NGOs are divided into generations: “2004 – 2009 is the first generation, 2009 – 2015 is the second and after 2015 is the new generation… The conflict is generally between the first two generations. The third generation consists of more educated people. I believe that the dialogue and cooperation will increase with the generation change and that the conflict will come to an end.”

According to Karadeniz who links the causes of conflict to ignorance, the people who found associations are not equipped on what civil society is or how it operates and what it serves. Associations do not have road maps, but there are those who act according to the direction of the wind and become politicized. Becoming an association is a tool for most NGO representatives to meet with people like mayors and district governors. When no concrete output from these negotiations come out as well as no benefit, they attack associations that operate, and the fight begins. Noting that they tried to work together by networking but could not achieve anything because of conflicts of interest, Karadeniz sees the way of working together in the change of the president of many associations.

Stating that some associations are working on poverty and some associations are working on identity, Karadeniz states that they should get rid of this chaos and that they work on identity issues as Romani Youth Association: “Everyone has a road map for themselves, but nobody knows where to go. The road map should be determined and a common ground should be sought.”

 

 

There Are An Inflation Of Associations Among Romani Society

Tire Romanis Association President Hasan Hüseyin Karabacak points out that the conflicts are not specific to Romani civil society. Stating that there are conflicts between other NGOs, Karabacak says that educated who are open to dialogue have somehow found a middle way. Karabacak states that Romani NGOs are disadvantaged due to lack of education and says: “With the confidence of ignorance, the people who would never be able to become a president of an association become presidents. There are three associations in a neighborhood and two federations in a district, for example. It is ridiculous to have federations in the districts. Associations become federated without proving their rank. Federations are becoming confederated without proving themselves. As a result, the inflation of associations emerges.”

According to the statement of Karabacak who thinks that the conflicts are caused by the political fights, the associations are advancing with the relations they have developed with the politicians and do not want others to benefit from these relations. The problem of staying in focus of power also makes it difficult to partner with the solution of problems. Karabacak says: “As associations become institutionalized, they will be able to meet on networks and platforms and establish a dialogue. Thus, conflicts will be resolved over time.” 

The Main Reason of Conflicts Is Distrust

European Union Council Romani Forum’s Turkey Representative Erdoğan Şener also considers reducing the conflict to Romanis is unfair. Thus, there is conflict wherever there is a person. Şener states that the primary cause of the conflicts is distrust and that the Romani people of one region remaining aloof to another. Explaining how poverty affects civil society, Şener continues his words as follows. “90 percent of the leaders of NGOs are poor people. Many associations were founded with the hope of providing assistance from local governments. Associations have been founded on this expectation yet they became putty in political parties’ hands. The economic situation of the society is known by everyone. Representatives asked for travel allowances from official institutions to attend meetings in other provinces. When they could not retrieve it, the politicians had come under fire. The NGOs then start to receive instructions from the deputies and make them give instructions to municipalities. When they are allowed some money, they became dependent on them. Conflicts were bred by disaggregating, defaming each other and denigrating the good for benefit.”

Considering that the conflicts will not be resolved in the short term, Şener emphasizes that the benefit of the power that will come out when the prejudices are broken by believing and trusting each other and keeping the doors of dialogue open will work.

Lack Of Solidarity Is Related To Not Knowing Each Other

Kader Can, a university student working at the Zero Discrimination Association, says that everyone works for the same purpose, but because of the leadership race they try to achieve this goal with different tools. According to Can, who thinks that this leadership fight is the main conflict, everyone wants to get more shares from the cake. Because of such non-sharing attitudes, it becomes harder to meet on the common ground. Romani community which is approached with prejudice by the society also marginalize themselves which means stymieing unity. Can who says: “Lack of solidarity is about not knowing each other. Collaboration will be easy if the society really knows each other and makes peace among themselves.” states that it will be possible to partner on the solution of the main problems such as education, shelter, and employment with the increasing awareness of conflict resolution. 

Romanian Education Youth And Culture Association President Cem Pekbalıkçı says that Romani NGOs are acting individually, and this is an obstacle to the common benefit. According to the statement of Pekbalıkçı, there are strong Romani actors in Izmir such as two deputies as well as an advisor to the minister. However, its reflection on the field is weak. By including local actors and creating a negotiation environment, people should be reminded that everyone uses İzmir to advance, but that the needs such as capacity development are not met. In addition, society does not like someone to stand out. This is human nature, but in the Romani society this attitude is more prevalent! If leaders achieve a certain satisfaction through leadership, they would tend to resolve conflicts and would meet on a common interest.

Problems Will Be Solved If Qualified Associations Come Together

President of Gömeç Romani Culture and Solidarity Association Kenan Say attributes the main reason for the conflict to lack of education. Conflict becomes inevitable when economic inadequacy is added to lack of education.

According to Say, political expectation is another reason for conflict. The emergence of two Romani deputies from the society has led educated or Romanis who are in good shape to become deputies. The dispute between associations in this period also originates from this. In addition, some of the Romanis may not be willing to cooperate with young people by acting with an attitude. This affects the culture of working together.

Say says: “My suggestion is to bring together qualified associations around the country 3 or 4 times a year in a central city of Turkey. In this way, we can discuss problems and act together to resolve conflicts.”

Ali Yangır, President of Yenişehir Romani Development and Gentrification Association, points out that the society has a problem of trust and self-confidence. Yangır, who stated that although there are 600 Romani NGOs, they could not proceed together says: “All Romani NGOs, whether resentful or offended, should come together and develop a culture of consultation. Conflicts can only be resolved together.”

The assessment of Chairman of Zero Discrimination Association Elmas Arus considering the meeting is as follows:

• NGOs that are parties to the conflict believed that they could partner in solving problems and became motivated to work together.
• A request has been made to join the RODA network which includes 34 Romani Associations. This indicates that they can stop fighting.
• The meeting progressed to contribute to the solution of the problems instead of being a ‘wailing wall’ where problems are constantly discussed.
• It was a meeting independent of politics, centered on civil society and advocacy.
• An environment has been created where everyone can express themselves freely.
• The concept that negative criticism and attacking to be considered as advocacy had been broken down. People were confused about the culture of working together, but change can be seen in the long run.

According to the information given by Arus, the next stop of the Conflict Resolution Training and Meetings will be East and Southeast of Turkey.