ABTTF raises concerns of the Turkish Minority in the European Parliament
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) brought attention to the issues faced by the Turkish minority in Greece during an event held on Wednesday, 21 May, at the European Parliament in Brussels. The event, titled “Name, Identity, Memory: 40 Years Since the Final Phase of the Forced Name Changes of Muslim Turks in Bulgaria”, was hosted by Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Bulgaria (Renew Europe).
ABTTF President Halit Habipoğlu, ABTTF Director of International Relations Melek Kırmacı, and ABTTF Brussels Office staff member Deniz Servantie participated in the session.
Notable attendees included Loránt Vincze, MEP from Romania (EPP) and President of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), and Marion Lalisse, EU Coordinator on Combating Anti-Muslim Hatred at the European Commission.
In his opening remarks, MEP Kyuchyuk recalled the forced assimilation policies of Bulgaria’s communist regime during the 1970s and 1980s, which included the compulsory renaming of Muslim Turks.
Speaking on behalf of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages, Vincze emphasized the critical importance of raising minority issues at the EU level, suggesting that these matters should fall within the shared competencies of EU Member States and the European Commission.
In his address, ABTTF President Habipoğlu stated that Greece, despite being one of the EU’s oldest member states, denies the ethnic Turkish identity and existence of the Western Thrace Turkish community. He claimed that Greek authorities aim to dismantle the community’s educational and religious autonomy through legislation and policy.
Melek Kırmacı, in her presentation, said that Greece's policy of long-term assimilation against the Western Thrace Turks remains in place. She highlighted that between 1955 and 1998, approximately 60,000 Western Thrace Turks were stripped of their citizenship under the now-abolished Article 19 of the Greek Citizenship Code, which she described as racially discriminatory.
Kırmacı further noted that although the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) guarantees the educational and religious autonomy of the Turkish minority, significant backsliding has occurred. She stated that while there were 307 Turkish primary schools in the region in 1923, today only 86 remain. She also criticized a 1991 law that revoked the community’s right to elect its own religious leaders (muftis), adding that recent legislation has effectively turned the once-autonomous mufti offices into public agencies under the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs.
She strongly condemned Greece’s 17-year-long refusal to implement rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in cases involving Turkish minority associations, accusing the country of deliberately violating freedom of association.
Kırmacı concluded by calling on the Greek government to restore the educational and religious autonomy of the Turkish community in Western Thrace. She also urged the European Parliament to take a leading role in ensuring that the rights of national minorities are upheld across all EU Member States.
Speaking on behalf of the European Commission, Marion Lalisse acknowledged a rise in anti-Muslim hate speech and hate crimes across the EU, adding that the Commission plans to introduce new initiatives to address the issue.
Emine Bayraktova, a representative of the Turkish community in Bulgaria, also spoke at the event, recounting the shift from a previously peaceful coexistence to a period of state-enforced assimilation under the communist regime.
