'Greek diplomatic sources misread the Treaty of Lausanne' says Minority Association

Western Thrace
Fri, 17 Jun 2022 8:34 GMT
In its statement, ABTTF (Western Thrace Turkish Federation in Europe) emphasized that Greek diplomatic sources misread the Lausanne treaty and drew false parallels.In a statement released by the ABTTF, it was emphasized that Greek diplomatic resources mis...
'Greek diplomatic sources misread the Treaty of Lausanne' says Minority Association
In its statement, ABTTF (Western Thrace Turkish Federation in Europe) emphasized that Greek diplomatic sources misread the Lausanne treaty and drew false parallels.

In a statement released by the ABTTF, it was emphasized that Greek diplomatic resources misread the Treaty of Lausanne and drew wrong parallels.

ABTTF released a statement after the news and comment in the Kathimerini newspaper, which was based on Greek diplomatic sources, and stated that Turkey's criticism of the state appointment of muftis in Western Thrace is hypocritical.

The following statements were included in the statement: “Kathimerini newspaper, in its news dated June 14, 2022, based on Greek diplomatic sources by the Athens-Macedonia News Agency (AMNA) of Greece, referred to the appointments of muftis in Turkey on June 7, 2022 with the Presidential Decree. It was claimed that Turkey's criticism of the state's appointment of muftis in Turkey was hypocritical.

In the news, where it is stated that Turkey appoints muftis in its own country not by-election, but by the Presidential Decree, it was stated that paralleling between Turkey and Greece, Turkey appoints muftis in the same way as Greece, but in return demanded the election of muftis in Western Thrace from Greece.

Halit Habipoğlu, President of the European Western Thrace Turkish Federation (ABTTF), said the following on the subject: "In the news published based on Greek diplomatic sources, it is inconceivable that the religious leaders of the Western Thrace Turkish community, the muftis, are appointed by the state, not by-elections, with the appointment of muftis in Turkey. As we have seen frequently lately, our country interprets Lausanne as it wishes! According to Lausanne, the Muslim minority in our country and the non-Muslim minority in Turkey have educational and religious autonomy! How muftis are determined or appointed in Turkey cannot be compared with Western Thrace Turkish community. If we are to take Lausanne as a basis, both the patriarch and the rabbi are determined by the communities in Turkey. However, in our country, our muftis are appointed by the state! If we are to compare with other religious communities in our country, even in the Orthodox Church, which is the dominant religion of the state, the state cannot appoint clergy. In our country, both Armenians and Jews elect their own religious leaders. But when it comes to us, our country interprets Lausanne as it wishes, it is not enough, it compares the method of determining muftis in Turkey and other Muslim countries with Western Thrace Turkish community. With the legislative changes made in recent years, our country continues to act in violation of the treaties and deliberately continues to reduce the powers of the mufti, and it seems that this will continue until we completely abolish our religious autonomy.”

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