ABTTF raises Western Thrace minority education concerns at FUEN meeting
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) has raised concerns over the education autonomy of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace, the decline in minority schools and the lack of vocational education opportunities at a FUEN meeting in Belgium.
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) highlighted education-related concerns affecting the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace at the eighth annual meeting of the Education Working Group of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), held in Eupen, Belgium, from September 29 to October 2.
The meeting, hosted by Belgium's German-speaking minority, brought together teachers, educators, researchers and academics from across Europe. ABTTF was represented by Deniz Servantie.
The meeting focused on minority issues in vocational education, with particular attention to the education system of Belgium's German-speaking Community and the opportunities and challenges created by artificial intelligence in minority-language education.
ABTTF PRESENTS WESTERN THRACE EDUCATION CASE
ABTTF delivered a presentation titled “Vocational Education in Greece and the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace,” focusing on what it described as the centralised structure of Greece's education system and challenges faced by the minority.
The federation argued that the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne guarantees the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace the right to establish, administer and supervise its own schools and to receive education in its mother tongue, Turkish.
According to ABTTF, this educational autonomy has been substantially weakened over time through legislative and administrative measures. These claims represent ABTTF's assessment of the implementation of minority education in Greece.
MINORITY PRIMARY SCHOOLS FALL FROM 188 TO 76, ABTTF SAYS
ABTTF said that, although preschool education is compulsory in Greece, there is currently no bilingual Turkish minority kindergarten in Western Thrace.
The federation also said that Turkish minority primary schools have been closed on the grounds of declining pupil numbers. According to ABTTF, the number of Turkish minority primary schools fell from 188 in 2011 to 76 in the 2026–2027 academic year. ABTTF separately reported in September that eight additional minority primary schools had been closed for the 2026–2027 school year, citing enrolment of fewer than nine pupils.
The federation said there is currently one Turkish minority lower-secondary school and one upper-secondary school in both the Rhodope and İskeçe (Xanthi) prefectures.
ABTTF also highlighted vocational education, saying that 16 public vocational secondary schools, including EPAL and P.EPAL institutions, operate across Western Thrace but that there is no vocational and technical secondary school belonging to the Turkish Minority.
ABTTF CALLS FOR EDUCATIONAL AUTONOMY TO BE RESTORED
ABTTF argued that Greece's policies are gradually weakening the Turkish minority school system and directing Turkish children toward public schools.
The federation called on Greece to restore what it describes as the educational autonomy guaranteed to the Turkish Minority under the Treaty of Lausanne and to respect the minority's educational rights.
The issue has remained prominent during the 2026–2027 school year. In September, ABTTF also criticised comments by Greek Deputy Minister of Education Nikos Papaioannou concerning the role of Turkish in minority education and highlighted the closure of additional Turkish minority primary schools.
The FUEN meeting provided a broader European setting for the discussion, bringing the Western Thrace case together with education issues affecting other national and linguistic minorities across Europe.
Source: ABTTF
