ABTTF responds to Stylianidis' statements
ABTTF: "Stilyanidis' government for the solution of the problems of our community in the field of education Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) President Halit Habipoğlu reacted to the statements of Rhodope ND MP Evripidis Stilyanidis regarding the education in the Western Thrace region.
ABTTF made a statement and announced that New Democracy Party (YDP) Rodopi MP Evripidis Stilyanidis participated in the event "STARFORUM 2024" organised by STAR TV in the city of Lamia and attended by guests from the world of politics, economy, academia, arts and media.
In his speech, the main theme of which was education, Stilyanidis presented data from the Council of Europe on international, national and demographic development in Western Thrace and noted that education together with faith keeps Greeks living abroad connected to their homeland and effectively integrates foreign-born populations into Greek society.
ABTTF President Halit Habipoğlu stated the following "As Stilyanidis knows very well, there is not a single Turkish kindergarten in the province of Rhodope, where we constitute the majority of the population, and in the province of Xanthi, where we constitute approximately half of the population. The number of state kindergartens in each of these two provinces is 141. Again, there are 25 state secondary schools and high schools in Rhodope and 32 state secondary schools and high schools in Xanthi, while there is only one Turkish minority secondary school and high school in these provinces. On the other hand, the building problem in the only Turkish minority secondary school and high school in Xanthi has been going on for years. Despite our educational autonomy guaranteed by treaties, Turkish primary schools with autonomous status in Western Thrace are being closed down one by one every year. While we had 226 primary schools in 2003, this number has decreased to 90 in the 2023-2024 academic year. We wish and expect Stilyanidis, who is also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, to refer to the problems experienced by our community in the field of education in his speeches and statements as an MP of our region and to convince the government to solve these problems.
