Far-right pressures against Western Thrace Turks continue
Western Thrace Turks continue to be under the pressure of the far-right mentality in Greece. Nikolaos D. Papadopoulos, MP of the radical right-wing NIKH (VICTORY) Party, targeted the Friendship, Equality and Peace Party (FEP), the political organ of the Muslim Turks of Western Thrace, with a parliamentary question addressed to the Greek Foreign Minister.
In the parliamentary question submitted to the Greek Parliament on Wednesday, 17 July, the NIKH Party brought to the agenda the activities and aims of the FEP Party, which is the only political body defending the rights of Western Thrace Turks determined by international agreements and the constitution.
The questions addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs question the impact of FEP's activities on Greece's national interests and international agreements. The motion submitted by Nikolaos D. Papadopoulos, MP of the NIKH Party is as follows:
"Current Question - Subject to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Activities of the ΚΙΕΦ (FEP) Party in Western Thrace The Friendship, Equality and Peace Party (FEP) is a political party active in Western Thrace. Its sole aim is the recognition of the Turkish national minority for the Muslim minority there. The party defends the 'Turkish identity' of the Muslim minority in Western Thrace and is actively supported by the Turkish consulate in Komotini and Ankara. In the last European Parliament elections on 9 June 2024, DEB was the first party with 27.6% of the votes in Xanthi and 36.10% in Rhodope.
The president of the party, Çiğdem Asafoğlu, said at a public event of the party: 'We are not Greek Muslims, we are Turkish Muslims... We are the voice of the "Macedonian minority"'. During the election campaign, one of the party candidates stated in interviews with TRT that the aim of the party was 'to make the voice of the Turkish women of Western Thrace heard in Europe'. At the same time, the President of the Association of Pomaks of Greece stated that FEP's high voting rates in Rhodope and Xanthi were due to the isolation and indifference suffered by the Pomaks from the Greek state. Given that DEB has a dynamism in the Thracian community, is organised and financed by the Turkish Consulate and Ankara, the relevant minister is asked:
Do you consider that the activities and aims of the DEB party threaten our national interests and existing international agreements in the sensitive region of Thrace?
In the last 5 years, what has the Greek state done to improve the living conditions of Pomaks and Gypsies in order to preserve their cultural characteristics and to ensure their full integration into Greek society?"
The NIKH Party, which managed to enter the parliament in the last general elections and gained the support of the far-right with its radical Orthodox Christian and nationalist discourses, is criticised for its far-right political mentality targeting minorities in the country. It is stated that this mentality poses a danger for internal and external peace. NIKH Party is criticised for continuing its discourses that increase the tension in the region by questioning the activities of FEP and the rights of Western Thrace Turks.
While this situation causes concern among the Western Thrace Turks, it also closely affects the political and social dynamics in the region. Minorities and common sense groups in the country state that the NIKH Party wants to manipulate the injustices suffered by the minorities in Western Thrace in particular and in Greece in general through such parliamentary questions and argue that questioning the steps taken by the government on this issue is aimed at both encouraging the government and other parties to adopt more right-wing policies and to provoke the Greek public opinion.
