ABTTF: 'Full respect for our rights and freedoms'
Halit Habipoğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), drew attention to the problems experienced by the Western Thrace Turkish Minority in a statement he released on the occasion of the 9 May Europe Day, and said, "As the Turkish society of Western Thrace, we want our rights and freedoms to be fully respected."
Habipoğlu made the following statements in his statement:
“Happy Europe Day to all EU citizens and everyone living in the EU!
After the great destruction brought on by the Second World War in Europe, the EU, with a common flag, common anthem and single currency, with a population of approximately 450 million, is the symbol of economic and political integration in the world today.
The EU is founded on the values of democracy, equality, freedom, the rule of law and respect for the rights of persons belonging to national minorities.
On 9 May Europe Day, we, as the Western Thrace Turkish community living in Greece, demand full respect for our rights and freedoms, and we call on our country, which claims to be the cradle of democracy at every opportunity, to abide by the principles of democracy and rule of law, not in words but in practice.”
