Blocking minority school boards means ignoring the Lausanne Treaty, says Western Thrace Turkish Teachers’ Union

The Western Thrace Turkish Teachers’ Union (BTTÖB) has strongly condemned the recent practice of preventing Minority School Boards (Encümen Heyetleri) from entering schools, describing it as a serious violation of rights.

In a written statement, the union emphasized that the right to autonomous and special education, guaranteed under the Lausanne Peace Treaty and bilateral agreements, is based on the existence and authority of these boards. Preventing them from carrying out their duties, the statement stressed, amounts to disregarding the Lausanne Treaty itself.

The union noted that anti-democratic practices against Western Thrace Turkish Minority education tend to resurface at the beginning of every academic year, fueling concerns for the future. It underlined that restricting rights safeguarded by international conventions through the use of state power is unacceptable.

Highlighting the principle of reciprocity, the statement drew attention to a question raised by the Minority Secondary School–High School Board in İskeçe: “Is there a similar practice at Greek Orthodox minority schools in Istanbul?”

Reiterating that the Minority School Boards are the legal administrators of minority schools, BTTÖB described efforts to block their authority as a violation of rights and called for an immediate end to such arbitrary and unilateral measures.

The statement concluded with the following remarks:
“Once again, we underline that Minority School Boards are the legal administrators of minority schools. Their duties and responsibilities, stemming from treaties and laws, cannot be obstructed. We cannot accept this usurpation of rights. This arbitrary practice must be stopped immediately. After Pandora’s box has been closed, we are waiting for ‘hope’—the only thing left inside—to be brought out and nurtured. We stand by our legitimate representatives who embody the will of the minority in the administration of our schools, and we declare to the public that our struggle will continue on democratic and legal grounds until our educational autonomy is respected.”