Keet (2014) reports on \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe forced resettlement of about 3,500 Rroma in Istanbul. The members of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminority, who have lived in the neighbourhood Sulukule for centuries, were \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trelocated between 2005 and 2010 into apartment buildings on the outskirts of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe city because of a building project. Sulukule was one of the oldest \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocumented Rroma settlements in the world. Their presence was documented since \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe time of the Byzantine Empire. The forced resettlement of Rroma led to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmassive protests by various groups. The inhabitants protested for four years, all \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe while when excavators destroyed their buildings. Despite several legal \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobjections to the destruction of the settlement, which was ordered by the government, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe demolition continued. With the settlement\u2019s destruction, a way of life was laid \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto rest. It consisted of a close cooperation between the local families, who arranged \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttheir daily works with one another, which allowed a good existence \u00a0in spite of small incomes. In the new \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tapartment buildings the Rroma pay a lot more rent and are cut off from their \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tformer sources of revenue, such as metal work, flower trade, or raw material \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trecycling, because of the location on the urban periphery. Critics complain \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat the Rroma were not consulted in the resettlement project, and that a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tresponsible policy would have involved them in the decision-making. According \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto estimates of the Rroma Foundation, 300,000 to 500,000 Rroma live in Turkey. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMany of them are affected by severe poverty. However, numerous are also well \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tintegrated, have educations, own apartments and belong to the middle or even \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe upper class. <\/p>\n