The New York-based multi-ethnic gypsy punk band, best known for its theatrical stage performances, is lending moral support to the residents of Sulukule through the song “Educate Thy Neighbor,” the Anatolia news agency reported on Friday.The group performed “Educate Thy Neighbor” during appearances across the United States throughout the summer as part of their US tour, which wrapped up earlier this month with a concert at the All Points West Festival in New Jersey. “Educate Thy Neighbor” will also be featured on the band's upcoming studio album, set for release next month, Anatolia reported.
Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hütz was inspired to write “Educate Thy Neighbor” during a visit to İstanbul last summer, during which the band's members also visited the neighborhood, billed on the band's Web site as “the oldest Roma settlement in the world.” Through their Web site, http://gogolbordello.com, the band is also lending support to alternative civil society projects to save the area from being demolished.
Part of the lyrics of the song read: “Streets of Sulukule / Are down, down, down / Urban progress bullies / Try to steal its crown / Till first note a-ripples / And street beats erupts / Now you see who's heart and soul / Is bankrupt … Educate thy neighbor / Bout the urban plot / To pave over culture / For new parking lot.”
Dozens of houses in Sulukule have been demolished as part of a renovation project by the Fatih Municipality in the past year. The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality plans to construct 620 new houses, a hotel and a culture and entertainment center in the area. The renovation project and the relocation of Sulukule's inhabitants, apart from the indignation of residents and activists, also drew the ire of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee. The body indicated in a draft report last month that the renovation project “unacceptably damages the physical and intangible values of the Sulukule neighborhood.”
