ABTTF President Meets with Members of the Bundestag in Berlin

The European Western Thrace Turkish Federation (ABTTF) paid a working visit to Berlin, the capital of Germany, on March 1, 2023. ABTTF President Halit Habipoğlu met with the German Bundestag Members Carsten Träger (SPD) and Knut Abraham (CDU) during his working visit accompanied by ABTTF Head Office Officer K. Engin Soyyılmaz.

ABTTF President Habip Oglu, who expressed the current problems of the Western Thrace Turkish society and the discrimination and rights violations it has been subjected to in the meetings with the deputies, said that the people and institutions representing the Western Thrace Turkish society have been overtly targeted in the written and visual media lately. Underlining that Western Thrace Turkish society is portrayed as a "threat" and "danger" in politics and media in his own country, Habip Son noted that this hostile attitude hinders the Turkish society's demand for dialogue with the rulers of his country.

Stating that the educational and religious autonomy of the Western Thrace Turkish community, which is guaranteed by bilateral and international agreements, has been liquidated with various laws and practices over the years, Habip Son said, He stated that the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) have not been persistently implemented by Greece for 15 years despite all the warnings and decisions of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Habipoğlu noted that the last example of hostility and prejudice against Western Thrace Turkish community is the filing of a lawsuit requesting the cancellation of the registration of the Western Thrace Fenerbahce Association, which was officially established in October 2022 with the signature of the Rhodope Provincial Prosecutor.