ABTTF President: Our country should urgently abandon the habit of plastering the sun with slime

ABTTF President Halit Habipoğlu reacted to Deputy Prime Minister Marinakis' statement that very important steps have been taken in the field of rule of law, human rights and freedom of the press.

Habipoğlu referred to the statements made by Pavlos Marinakis, Deputy Prime Minister for Communications and Information, in response to a question about the surveys published by Transparency International and the Media Freedom Emergency Response organisation, which revealed that the rule of law in Greece recorded a rapid decline in 2023.

Pavlos Marinakis, Deputy Prime Minister for Communications and Information, responded to a question regarding the surveys published by Transparency International and the Media Freedom Emergency Response organisation, which revealed that the rule of law in Greece recorded a rapid decline in 2023.

"Contrary to the rumours, the government of Kiryakos Mitsotakis has taken very important steps for the rule of law, human rights and freedom of the press, as confirmed by the annual official report on the rule of law published by the European Union (EU) Commission in July every year," said Marinakis, arguing that progress has been made in this field as a result of the policies of the ruling New Democracy Party (YDP) government.

Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), reacted to Marinakis' statements and said: "Deputy Prime Minister Marinakis, as other senior politicians of the ruling party always do, denied the sincere criticisms coming from Europe that the rule of law in our country has gone backwards. However, no matter how much the rulers of our country continue to deny, our country can no longer cover up the facts in the international arena. The systematic violation of the rule of law in our country for years has been harshly criticised in the plenary session of the European Parliament last month and it was stated that the situation of fundamental rights and the rule of law in our country is worrying. The fact that our country has persistently failed to implement the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights against our three associations in the Bekir Usta and Others Case Group for nearly 16 years is a clear proof that it disregards the principle of the rule of law and the values of the EU, of which it has been a member since 1981. Our country should urgently abandon its habit of plastering the sun with mud and fully respect the principles of the rule of law and democracy."