Turkish PM calls for unity with gypsies

ISTANBUL, Turkey, March 15 (UPI) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan staged a rally for 10,000 gypsies in Istanbul, telling them his goal was to restore full rights to them.

The rally at a soccer stadium Sunday was part of a government initiative to improve the country's treatment of minorities such as the gypsies and Kurds, the Zaman newspaper reported Monday.

"From now on, your problems are my problems," Erdogan told the crowd. "Nobody in this country can be treated as 'half' a person."

The prime minister said more than 3,400 houses specifically for gypsies were under construction throughout the country.

"We expect support from you as well. I hope this process will successfully continue and in time we will put an end to (your) poverty and lack of education," he said.

Estimates on Turkey's gypsy population range from 500,000 to 2 million, and an estimated 20,000 of the gypsies are nomadic, the report said.