Greece bans educational activity of Western Thrace Turks
The problems of Western Thrace Turks in Greece in the field of education continue. Greek authorities prevent the Turkish Minority from having a say in its own school with their interventions.
The event to be organised by the Parent-Teacher Association at the Xanthi Central Turkish Minority Primary School was not allowed by the Directorate of Primary Education of Xanthi. No permission was granted for the talk that the PTA wanted to organise within the scope of the project "Experts Tell Us, We Learn" and in which Speech and Language Therapist Cemali Kabur would participate as a speaker.
It was reported that the authorisation for the event, which had been granted by the Board of Councillors, was forwarded by the School Administration to the State Directorate of Education for approval, but was not granted.
When the organisers and those who wanted to participate in the event went to the school on the evening of Wednesday 31 January, they found that the doors were locked. Therefore, the PTA had to organise the event at the Turkish Union of Xanthi. Parents who wanted to attend the event could not enter their own schools.
Regarding the issue, Xanthi Central Turkish Minority Primary School Board of Councillors and Parent-Teacher Association issued a written statement. The following statements were made in the statement:
"This evening we went to our school to listen to the second guest of our 'Experts Tell Us, We Learn' project, Speech and Language Therapist Cemali Kabur's talk. Just like the permissions we could not get for many activities we wanted to do, we were not given permission for the talk and the doors were not opened to us parents.... Despite the permissions we were denied, we organised the talk at the clubhouse of the Turkish Union of Xanthi. We would like to thank Ozan Ahmetoğlu, President of the Turkish Union of Xanthi and Cemali Kabur, Speech and Language Therapist, for opening the doors of our institution."
HOW WERE THE EVENTS ORGANISED BEFORE?
According to the previous practice, after the application for an event to be organised in the school was made to the Council of the School, the permission granted by the Council of the School for the event was forwarded by the School Administration to the Directorate of Primary Education of Xanthi and the permission granted for the event was approved.
THE COUNCILLORS ARE NOT EVEN ALLOWED TO USE AN EMPTY SPACE IN THE SCHOOL
Although the Council of Xanthi Central Turkish Primary School has been trying to use one of the empty sections of the school as a meeting room for years, the administration does not even allow it. There is a direct interference in the authority of the Council of Councillors, which is fully authorised from the school building. In the past days, the meeting of the Board of Councillors of the school had to be held again in the garden of the school.
GOOD RELATIONS ARE UNFORTUNATELY NOT REFLECTED ON THE TURKS OF WESTERN THRACE
Unfortunately, the goodwill and steps towards the development of relations between Turkey and Greece are not reflected on Western Thrace Turks. When it comes to Western Thrace Turks, the Greek administration and the administrators in the region continue to put forward all kinds of negativity in order to cause problems and obstacles to Western Thrace Turks even in the simplest issues.
CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCILLORS BALTACI REFERRED TO THE UNCHANGED SECRETARY IN THE MINISTRY
Following the closure of the school gates to the parents, Hüseyin Baltacı, the councillor of Xanthi Central Turkish Primary School, made a reference on his social media account to Yorgos Kalantzis, the Secretary General of Religious Affairs, whose position in the Greek Ministry of Education remains unchanged despite the change of governments. Kalancis, who is deeply rooted in the ministry, is known for his interventions in the mufti offices in Western Thrace. The Turkish Minority Public Opinion in Western Thrace believes that Kalancis played an active role in the negativities experienced in the Minority Education in recent years.
Hüseyin Baltacı, Chairman of the Council of Councillors, made the following post on his social media account:
"Dream-Nightmare... Ονειρο- Εφιάλτης... Mr Kalantzis had a nightmare a few months ago, he woke up and decided to close the school's doors to the activities approved by the PTA, the Board of Councillors! We, out of spite, will continue to dream!"
