ABTTF pays working visit to Strasbourg
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) paid a working visit to Strasbourg on 15-17 April 2024 in parallel with the Spring Ordinary General Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
The ABTTF delegation consisting of ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu and ABTTF International Relations Director Melek Kırmacı Arık expressed the current problems of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, especially those related to freedom of association, during its meetings with PACE member parliamentarians and Council of Europe bodies.
During his three-day working visit, ABTTF President Habip Oğlu met with the new Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Michael O'Flaherty, who took office on 1 April.
Within the framework of its contacts in Strasbourg, the ABTTF delegation met with Ingjerd Schie Schou, President of the Norwegian National Delegation to PACE and Vice President of the European People's Party (EPP) Group in PACE, Yıldırım Tuğrul Türkeş, President of the Turkish Delegation to PACE, Abdurrahman Babacan, Mehmet Akalın, Mustafa Canbey, Sena Nur Çelik Kanat, Yunus Emre and Zeynep Yıldız, members of the Turkish Delegation to PACE, and the Executive Office for the Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) of the Council of Europe.
During the meetings with the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe and politicians, ABTTF President Habip Oğlu stated that the rule of law in Greece has recently been under serious threat and systematically violated and noted that according to a survey conducted in March 2024, only 3 out of every 10 people in the country said that they trust the judiciary and judges. Habip Oğlu pointed out that the Council of Europe and the European Union (EU), of which Greece is a member, are closely following the deterioration of the rule of law in the country and stated that the European Parliament, with its resolution adopted in February 2024, called on the EU Commission to take action against the serious developments threatening the rule of law in Greece.
Habip Oğlu underlined that Greece denies the existence and identity of the Turkish community in Western Thrace and stated that the institutions and organisations and prominent representatives of the Turkish community, including ABTTF, are directly targeted and marginalised through hate speech in politics and mainstream media.
During the meeting with the Executive Office for the Enforcement of ECtHR Judgments, the ABTTF delegation emphasised that Greece has not implemented the ECtHR judgments against the Turkish Union of Xanthi, the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association in the Bekir Usta and Others Group of Cases for 16 years, that this is a clear violation of the rule of law and that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will re-examine the group of cases in question at its next meeting on 11-13 June 2024.
