ABTTF attended the 6th annual meeting of FUEN Working Group on Education
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) attended the 6th Annual Meeting of the Education Working Group of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), of which it is a full member, held on 9-10 April 2024 in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Deniz Servantie from ABTTF Brussels Representation attended the meeting themed "Primary school - primary level in minority education" hosted by the Swedish minority in Finland.
During the meeting, ABTTF conveyed the problems experienced by the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the field of education and the activities carried out before international organisations regarding these problems to the representatives of other minorities in Europe who are members of FUEN.
In the first session of the meeting, which was also attended by FUEN Vice-President Gösta Toft and FUEN Vice-President and FUEN Working Group on Education Spokesperson Daniel Alfreider, Niklas Wahlström, Head of the Professional Education Sector at Svenska Folskolans Vanner, and Gun Oker-Blom, former Director of the Finnish Education Agency and Education Consultant, presented the current problems of the Swedish minority in Finland in the field of education and the current situation regarding bilingual education in Sweden.
In the second session of the meeting, representatives of the participating FUEN member minorities made presentations on the problems of the minorities they belong to in education, with a focus on the primary education level.
PRESENTATION BY ABTTF
In its presentation in this session, ABTTF presented the historical development of the educational autonomy of the Turkish community in Western Thrace guaranteed by the treaties and the problems related to the primary schools with autonomous status. Noting that between 1923 and 1967 the schools belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace were recognised as "Turkish schools" by the Greek state but this was later changed by the Junta of Colonels, ABTTF noted that despite the return of democracy in Greece in 1974, the educational autonomy of the Turkish community was eroded by various laws and practices.
ABTTF stated that the Greek state denies the identity and existence of the Turkish community in Western Thrace and drew attention to the fact that the Turkish community faces discrimination at all levels in equal access to education. ABTTF noted that the curriculum at primary school level is prepared without the approval and contribution of teachers belonging to the Turkish community, Turkish lessons have been gradually decreasing in recent years and Turkish primary schools with autonomous status have been systematically closed down.
ABTTF stated that while the Turkish community had 226 primary schools in 2003, this number decreased to 90 in the 2023-2024 academic year due to the closures carried out by the Greek authorities in violation of educational autonomy.
Stating that the educational problems of the Turkish community in Western Thrace were brought to the agenda with written questions and petitions before the European Parliament (EP), ABTTF called on Greece to restore the educational autonomy of the Turkish community and to put an end to the closure of Turkish primary schools in Western Thrace.
On the second day of the event, the participants visited Mattlidens Lågstadium primary school, which belongs to the Swedish minority in Finland.
In the last session of the meeting, Francesca Borgonovi, Head of the OSCE Skills Analysis Team and Honorary Professor of the Institute of Social Research at University College London, made a presentation on the future of Swedish language education in 2024 and how it can be improved.
