BTTÖB: “We must put an end to the closure of Minority Schools”
The Western Thrace Turkish Teachers’ Union (BTTÖB) issued a statement at the start of the 2025–2026 academic year, calling on the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace—especially parents—to defend and protect their minority schools.
The union strongly criticized the ongoing policy of shutting down minority schools under the pretext of “low student numbers.”
“This year we lost three more schools. We must act consciously to stop the closure of minority schools. The claim that ‘education is only temporarily suspended’ is nothing but an excuse. As we saw in the cases of Musaköy and Mizanli, once a school is closed, it is never reopened,” the statement read.
Message to Students, Teachers, and Parents
The September 11 statement also included messages to students, teachers, and parents:
To students: BTTÖB emphasized the importance of mastering both Turkish (the mother tongue) and Greek (the official state language), encouraging them to work hard for a brighter future and reminding them that the minority community’s cultural survival depends on their success.
To teachers: The union expressed trust in educators to nurture children with patience and dedication, urging them to raise well-educated, modern, and culturally rooted generations while striving to improve the quality of education.
To parents: Parents were reminded that their support is crucial for their children’s success, and that sending their children to minority schools is vital not only for personal development but also for the survival of the community’s educational rights.
“This Is Everyone’s Problem”
WTTAB stressed that the closures are not just an educational issue but a collective threat to the future of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace:
“In recent years, our schools have been closed one after another, without consulting the minority and without respecting our treaty-based education rights. If this continues, the day will come when our schools will no longer exist, and when that happens, speaking of belonging to a minority will become nothing but a dream.”
