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Hacı Evhat Neighbourhood is Changing 28/10/2010

Hacı Evhat neighbourhood is an old Gypsy settlement aged for almost 60 years in the Malkara district of Tekirdağ. Basketmaking and tinning have been forgetten in Haci Evhat. Many of the residents are working in coal mines today.

Hacı Evhat Neighbourhood in Malkara district of Tekirdağ is one of the most importan settlements of Roma Gypsy in thracian region of Turkey for long years. Memories being talked among the residents about Turkish National War show how old the neighbourhood is. One of the most dramatic memories about the War is about a woman trying to hide herself and her baby from invader soldiers. She used to try shut her baby crying up compressing the baby to her chest and this caused her baby to die.

Gypsy population was low until 1950's. It raised with the migration sourced from the 72 Gypsy villages around Malkara after 1950. There have been some migrations from Edirne, Uzunköprü and Tekirdag to the neighbourhood beside the villages of Malkara. People settled to the neighbourhood were generally Gypsies specialised on basketmaking and tinning. They were living in serious hard live conditions according to older residents of the neighbourhood. Houses were builded from reeds. Thoug bigger part of the population were the Gypsies coming from the villages of Malkara, there were some Gypsies came from Greece and Bulgaris Turk-Greece Population Exchange at 1924.

Some families started to work in agriculture and husbandry on farms given by the government between 1940-1945. Some of them underselled their farms because of urgent needs. Some families lost their farms in the discussions about ownership of the lands. For some families farms started to be inadequate as population raised and they also selled their lands. There are only a few family doing agriculture. Many of them are living in the villages of Malkara and they have better live conditions comparing to other Gypsy families.

Some residents went to the foreign countries to work between 1960-1970. The other went on basketmaking, tinning, blacksmithing and agricultural working. Though musicianship was common among the Gypsies came from Bulgaria and Greece, their descendants are not musicians today. Traditional ways of subsistence just like basketmaking, tinning and blacksmithing have unexisted today in the neighbourhood. Residents found new ways of subsistence. Most of the residents are working in coal mines. There are almost 20 coal mine in Malkara. They are being paid 20 tl (14 $) for all work days. Some of the residents are collecting coal pieces falled from coal bogies and sell. It is started to be current working in textile fabrics among teenager girls in recent years. Many people believe that working in textile fabrics will be more common among Gypsy people in future. A few of the resident are working as refuse collector in the municipality. There are also some Gypsy butchers and cafe keepers in the neighbourhood.

There are three group of dialects of Romanes being spoken among the residents: Kalayci, Sepetçi and the dialects of Roma migrated from Greece and Bulgaria.

Most important problems of the neighbourhood are being unable to reach education and unemployment. Especially older residents remember Tahsin Eren with a great respectation beause of his support to the neighbourhood as a municipality president.

7000 Roma Gypsy people are living in the neighbourhood with Erenler district on Hayrabolu way in our day.

Source: Çingeneyiz Tekirdağ