ABTTF President Habipoğlu pays working visit to Strasbourg
Halit Habipoğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), carried out a working visit to Strasbourg from September 29 to October 1, on the sidelines of the Autumn Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
Accompanied by ABTTF Director of International Relations Melek Kırmacı, Habipoğlu held a series of meetings with PACE parliamentarians and Council of Europe officials, where he raised the current issues and rights violations faced by the Turkish minority in Western Thrace.
During the discussions, Habipoğlu underlined Greece’s failure to implement European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings for over 17 years in the “Bekir Usta and Others” group of cases concerning Turkish minority associations. He also highlighted the recent case of “Sağır and Others” brought by the İskeçe Turkish Women’s Cultural Association, in which the ECtHR unanimously ruled on June 24, 2025 that Greece’s refusal to register the association due to the use of the word “Turkish” violated Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Habipoğlu further drew attention to the education challenges of the Turkish community. Despite the educational autonomy guaranteed under the Treaty of Lausanne, Greek authorities continue to close Turkish minority primary schools, citing low student numbers. He noted that while there were 194 Turkish primary schools in 2008, the number has fallen to 83 in the 2025–2026 academic year.
He recalled that although the Turkish primary school in Mizanlı village, closed in 2023, had reached the required number of students, authorities still refused to reopen it. By contrast, he pointed out, schools in Karditsa and Keçi Island were reactivated for just one and two students respectively.
Habipoğlu also emphasized the lack of bilingual Turkish kindergartens in Western Thrace, despite compulsory preschool education in Greece, and reiterated the long-standing demand for a new building for the İskeçe Minority Middle and High School, where students continue to study in inadequate facilities.
