National minorities in Europe meet in Berlin for the 66th Congress of FUEN
The European Western Thrace Turkish Federation (ABTTF), representing the Western Thrace Turkish community, which is a member of the Federal Union of European Nations (FUEN), attended the 66th Congress of FUEN on 29 September-2 October 2022. The congress, hosted by four autochthonous national minorities and ethnic groups in Germany, was attended by FUEN Vice President and ABTTF President Halit Habipoğlu, ABTTF Vice President Nabi İbrahimcik, ABTTF Vice President Vedat Arap, and ABTTF International Relations Director Melek Kırmacı Arık.
The opening day sessions held at the Brandenburg State Representation in Berlin focused on the situation of minority communities in international, regional, and national conflicts. While the main agenda topic was the Russia-Ukraine war, in the sessions, which were discussed with the participation of European Parliament deputies, national politicians, and representatives of non-governmental organizations, the situation of national minorities in the war was discussed with the participation of minorities in Ukraine.
ABTTF Vice President Nabi İbrahimcik was elected FUEN Vice President in the elections held in the Board of Delegates.
At the FUEN Delegates Board held on Saturday, October 1, the elections for the FUEN President and the FUEN Presidential Board were held. As a result of the elections, FUEN President Lorant Vincze was re-elected as FUEN President with the votes of the delegates.
ABTTF President and current FUEN TAG Spokesperson Halit Habipoğlu, who served as FUEN Vice President for three terms between 2013-2022, did not run for election after three terms. As a result of the elections in which nine candidates competed for the position of FUEN Vice President, ABTTF Vice President Nabi İbrahimcik was elected FUEN Vice President with the votes of the majority of the delegates.
FUEN Vice-Presidents Daniel Alfreider (Italy Ladin minority), Bahne Bahnsen (Germany Frisian minority), and Gösta Toft (Denmark German minority) were elected as FUEN Vice-Presidents again. Nabi İbrahimcik and Olivia Schubert (Hungary German minority) and Bernard Gaida (Polish German minority) were elected to the FUEN Presidency Board for the first time.
The draft resolutions submitted by Western Thrace Turks, Rhodes, Kos and Dodecanese Turks, and Meskhetian Turks were accepted.
The main resolution of FUEN, conveying FUEN's view on the war in Ukraine and demanding the fulfillment of universal and European framework conventions and commitments in the protection of minorities, was adopted in the Delegates Council.
The draft resolution submitted jointly by ABTTF, BTAYTD and FEP Party, representing the Western Thrace Turkish community, as the Western Thrace Turkish delegation, was accepted unanimously. While it was stated in the bill that the right of the Western Thrace Turkish community was not recognized, it was underlined that Greece had not implemented the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights for more than 14 years in the Bekir Usta case group. It was stated in the bill that although it was autonomous in the field of education and religion, Greece continued to close primary schools belonging to the Western Thrace Turkish community, and in the field of religion, with the Presidential Decree of 2019 and the laws of modernization of the muftis of 2022, the autonomous structure was tried to be completely abolished.
The draft resolution, presented by the FUEN member Rhodes, Kos and Dodecanese Turks Culture and Solidarity Association (ROİSDER), was accepted, in which the problem of foundations and the demands of the Turks of Rhodes, Kos and Dodecanese in Greece were conveyed.
Krste Misirkov, who belongs to the Macedonian minority in Greece joins among the six new organizations of the FUEN family
Following the change in the FUEN statute, four new organizations in this year's FUEN Board of Delegates, namely the Romanians in Hungary, the Frisians in Germany, the Slovenes in Italy, and the Montenegrins in Albania, became associate members of FUEN.
In addition, the Alsatian society in France and the Macedonian minority in Greece became members of FUEN in the category of supporter members. The non-profit organization (NPO) "Krste Misirkov (Movement to Promote Macedonian Mother Tongue)" in Greece, which was hosted by ABTTF on the "Facts in Our Country" program on February 24, 2022, joined the FUEN family with the votes of the delegates.
Germans in Hungary to host FUEN 2023 Congress
Source: ABTTF
