Pervin Hayrullah attends the 'Oppressed Peoples Conference'

Pervin Hayrullah, General Director of Western Thrace Culture and Education Company, participated as a speaker in the "Conference The Oppressed: Then and Now" held at OSTİM Technical University in Ankara on 15 April Monday. Hayrullah talked about the problems experienced by Western Thrace Turks at the conference.

The conference programme was held with the participation of Prof. Dr. Cüneyt Yüksel, Chairman of the TBMM Justice Commission, Orhan Aydın, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Rector Prof. Dr. Murat Yülek and representatives of various non-governmental organisations.

Representatives from Western Thrace, East Turkestan, North and South America, Arakan, Palestine, Bangsamoro, Africa and Balkan geographies attended the conference as speakers.

HAYRULLAH SPOKE ABOUT MINORITY PROBLEMS TO "TICARI HAYAT" NEWSPAPER
After the conference Pervin Hayrullah answered the questions of "Ticari Hayat" daily newspaper published in Turkey and explained the problems experienced by the Western Thrace Turks. Stating that the most important problem is the denial of the Turkish identity of the minority, Hayrullah said: "The denial of our ethnic identity constitutes the beginning of the problems. This situation brings problems in a chain. Problems such as education, foundations, muftiate, social justice, segregation policies."

Pervin Hayrullah, who noted that there is a hundred years old struggle in Western Thrace, also touched upon the process experienced by the minority associations which were closed down by the courts due to the Turkish expression in their names. Explaining the discrimination the Turkish minority was subjected to in the 1990s, Hayrullah also mentioned the restricted zone practice.

BakEŞ General Director Hayrullah stated that Western Thrace Turks face discrimination in all areas of social life and gave information about the population in the region. Hayrullah noted that Western Thrace Turks were economically destroyed by the policies implemented and gave information about the antidemocratic election threshold applied to independent candidates.