FEP Party’s Human Rights Day message: “Western Thrace Turks Are Targeted – But we are here!”

The Friendship, Equality, Peace (FEP) Party, the only political party representing the Western Thrace Turkish Minority, issued a strong statement on the occasion of Human Rights Day, drawing attention to the rising hate speech targeting the minority.

The party stated that following their recent conference at the European Parliament under the umbrella of the European Free Alliance (EFA)—titled “Democratic Participation of National Minorities”—they became the target of an online hate campaign.

According to FEP, while the Western Thrace Turkish community welcomed the event with pride, certain segments of Greek public opinion attacked the party with harsh, threatening, and discriminatory language. A systematic analysis of social media comments revealed what the party described as a “deeply worrying picture.”

Examples of Hate Content Identified:

• Calls for expulsion such as: “If you’re Turks, go to Türkiye”
• Severe insults and profanity
• Denial of ethnic identity
• Ethnic slurs including “Mongols” and “Barbarians”
• Whataboutism used to justify hate speech through historical grievances
• Discriminatory insults based on religion and language
• False claims such as: “Your mosques are full of weapons”
• Explicit death threats and calls for ethnic cleansing

FEP emphasized that being subjected to this level of hate speech “simply for expressing our ethnic identity in 2025” should alarm everyone.

“This climate is no coincidence – Athens’ policies and media narrative fuel it”

The statement argued that the hostile environment did not emerge on its own. According to DEB:

• The Greek government’s long-standing refusal to engage in direct dialogue with the Western Thrace Turkish community
• And the mainstream Greek media’s persistent use of a narrative that “others” the minority
• both contribute significantly to the rising tension. The party stressed that the minority is often misrepresented as a security threat, despite its consistent respect for Greece’s sovereignty and laws.

“We want to build bridges – but not at the cost of our identity”

The FEP Party affirmed the community’s commitment to peaceful coexistence, while firmly rejecting efforts to redefine or erase their identity:

“We want to bridge distances, not build walls. But not by denying who we are. We are not ‘Greek Muslims’—we are Western Thrace Turks. You cannot erase our identity simply by claiming it does not exist.”

The message concluded with a powerful affirmation:

“You cannot assign us an identity, and you cannot intimidate us with hate speech. We are not the enemy of this country; we are its reality. We are part of this land, its language, its culture, its history—and let it be known… WE ARE HERE!”

This strong stance underscored the community’s determination to assert its rights and identity despite mounting pressures.