ABTTF President Habipoğlu meets with UN Special Rapporteur
Halit Habipoğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), held a meeting with Nicolas Levrat, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues. The meeting took place today (Wednesday, 26 November) at the United Nations Office in Geneva, where the two discussed key issues concerning the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace.
Habipoğlu was accompanied by Melek Kırmacı, the federation’s Director of International Relations. During the meeting, he presented the fundamental and ongoing challenges faced by the Western Thrace Turkish community, as well as the human rights violations to which it is subjected.
He emphasized that the educational autonomy of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority — safeguarded under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne — continues to be violated. Habipoğlu noted that autonomous and private Turkish primary schools in the region are being shut down each year by ministerial decisions on the grounds of “insufficient student numbers.” For the 2025–2026 academic year, three more Turkish primary schools were closed, reducing the number from 188 in 2011 to just 83 today.
Habipoğlu also underlined that Greece denies the ethnic Turkish identity of the minority, closing or refusing to register associations with the word “Turkish” in their names. He further recalled that Greece has failed to implement the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings in the Bekir Usta and Others group of cases for more than 17 years.
Referring to another significant case, Habipoğlu highlighted the ECtHR’s unanimous judgment on 24 June 2025 in the “Sağır and Others” case, brought by the Xanthi Turkish Women’s Cultural Association — an association unregistered by Greek courts due to the word “Turkish” in its name. The court found Greece guilty of violating Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of association.
Habipoğlu added that representatives of the Western Thrace Turkish community — including MPs, rights advocates, and institutions — are frequently targeted in Greek politics and media, facing hate speech and smear campaigns. He noted that prominent members of the Turkish minority are subjected to baseless accusations and intimidation-driven lawsuits, providing several examples during the meeting.
