Parliament Speaker Şentop attends the sahur programme at Xanthi Turkish Union
Mustafa Şentop, the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, stated that visiting Western Thrace and coming together with the kinsmen is always a source of great happiness and added: "Sharing the holiness of the month of Ramadan with our esteemed kinsmen makes my visit even more meaningful".
In his speech here, Şentop stated that the 96th anniversary of the foundation of the Xanthi Turkish Union made today more meaningful and emphasised that the Xanthi Turkish Union, founded in 1927, has a special importance in Turkey.
Emphasising the importance of the activities carried out by the association in the fields of education, culture and sports from past to present as the "Cultural Sycamore of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace", Şentop said:
"These activities of your association undoubtedly serve the Turks here to maintain their ties with their language, culture and past and to protect their identity. It is admirable that the association has not remained silent in the face of the injustices it has suffered in its life span of nearly a century, has started a struggle and still continues this struggle today. I would like to emphasise once again that we are behind the just struggle you are waging despite all the difficulties in order to use your own name. The problems of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace constitute one of the priority issues for our country. As Türkiye, we will continue our determined stance in favour of our compatriots in protecting their rights arising from the Treaty of Lausanne and other international conventions".
ITB President Ozan Ahmetoğlu stated that the signboard was removed because the name "Turkish" was mentioned in the name of the association and said that their legal struggle on this issue continues.
Ahmetoğlu stated that although the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Greece due to this practice, Greece did not implement this decision.
The sahur programme was attended by Çağatay Erciyes, Ambassador of Türkiye in Athens, Aykut Ünal, Consul General of Türkiye in Komotini, İbrahim Şerif, Elected Mufti of Komotini, Mustafa Trampa, Mufti of Xanthi, Çiğdem Asafoğlu, President of the Friendship, Equality and Peace (FEP) Party, Işık Ahmet, wife and Levent Ahmet, son of the late Sadık Ahmet, cognate MPs and mayors and many kinsmen.
Before the sahur programme, Şentop had a meeting with Mustafa Trampa, Mufti of Xanthi in his office.
