ABTTF President conducts a working visit to Brussels

On December 10, 2024, the President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), Halit Habip Oğlu, visited Brussels for a series of meetings with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and civil society representatives. Accompanied by Deniz Servantie from ABTTF’s Brussels Office, he met with prominent figures, including Loránt Vincze, President of FUEN and representative of the Hungarian minority in Romania, Rasmus Andresen, representing the Danish minority in Germany, and İlhan Küçük, representing the Turkish community in Bulgaria. Additionally, he held discussions with Davyth Hicks, Secretary-General of the European Language Equality Network (ELEN).

Agenda of the Meetings
The discussions focused on the current challenges faced by the Turkish community in Western Thrace and recent developments in Greece. Habip Oğlu highlighted issues such as interventions in education and religious autonomy, the closure of four Turkish primary schools in 2024, and the Greek government's non-recognition of elected muftis. He also drew attention to legal proceedings aimed at dissolving the Friendship, Equality, and Peace Party (FEP Party), despite its success as the leading party in Rodopi and Xanthi during the 2024 European Parliament elections.

The meetings included consultations on reinstating the Traditional Minorities, National Communities, and Languages Intergroup in the European Parliament's new term. During his discussion with ELEN, Habip Oğlu emphasized the longstanding neglect of applications to establish bilingual kindergartens and the deprivation of the right for children in Western Thrace to learn their mother tongue, Turkish.

Habip Oğlu underscored the systemic violations of the rule of law in Greece, exemplified by the 16-year non-implementation of European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings regarding associations of the Turkish community in Western Thrace.