FEP Party President Asafoğlu issues a message on the new academic year

Friendship Equality Peace (FEP) Party President Çiğdem Asafoğlu published a message for the 2023-2024 academic year which started today in Greece.

FEP Party President Çiğdem Asafoğlu stated that this year, as in recent years, the Greek state closed the minority primary schools in some villages before the academic year on the grounds of lack of students, which again caused sadness in the minority and that the new academic year started with bitterness:

"Dear students,

Dear teachers and dear parents!

As we start a new academic year, I would like to state that I wholeheartedly share the excitement and enthusiasm of our children, who are the guarantee of our future, our parents who try to provide them with the best opportunities with great sacrifices, and our teachers who try to provide a quality education despite all the impossibilities in our region.

As every year, we are starting the 2023 - 2024 academic year with the bitterness of the closure of nine minority schools. Those who try to make us accept this situation that breaks our hearts should know that we never accept this situation. Together with all our institutions and organisations, we have been shouting out these injustices that we have been subjected to despite the treaties for years. Unfortunately, no dialogue has been established with the minority until today. Unilateral decisions and antidemocratic practices have always been stubbornly continued. This situation is an indication of the value given to minority education and our minority.

I sincerely believe that our children, who are our future and our hope, will achieve all the successes in the new academic year with their perseverance and hard work. I wish with my heartfelt feelings that all our children and young people across the country will have a very successful academic year and I sincerely hope that the 'education problem', which is one of the most important minority problems, will be solved."