ABTTF Responds to Sirigos' Statements
Halit Habipoğlu, President of ABTTF, stated, "I was astonished to read the statements of Syrigos, an MP from our country's ruling party, who disregards the right of our children to be educated in their mother tongue, Turkish. It's truly incomprehensible! With the permission of our homeland, in response to the requests of the Greek Orthodox minority, who share the same fate under the Treaty of Lausanne, a Greek primary school was opened on Gökçeada for only three students. Similarly, in Romania, a Greek primary school was permitted to open in 2008 for just 20 students at the request of the Greek minority there. On the other hand, our country shuts down our autonomous Turkish primary schools every year under the pretext of low student numbers and has ignored our request for bilingual minority kindergartens for years. In other EU member states, bilingual kindergartens can be opened and operate without issues. Our government should heed the demand for bilingual kindergartens from our community, both as citizens and voters, and fulfill it."
In response to Rodopi MP Özgür Ferhat's remarks in parliament concerning minority education, Sirigos referenced the request of the Turkish community of Western Thrace for bilingual kindergartens where education would be conducted in both Greek and Turkish. He argued that imposing Turkish on kindergarten children would be provocative, asserting that children should not be subjected to a different linguistic identity or pressured in the early years of their education.
