Request for bilingual minority kindergarten discussed at PETI
The request of Western Thrace Turks' longstanding problem on bilingual kindergarten was discussed in European Parliament Committee on Petitions.
With the initiatives and support of The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) in the European Parliament (EP), the petition regarding the lack of bilingual minority kindergartens that will provide education in Turkish and Greek in Western Thrace, submitted by the President of the Xanthi Turkish Union (ITB) Ozan Ahmetoglu who also is a parent, was discussed in the European Parliament Petitions Committee (PETI) on January 10, 2022.
As the petitioner, Ozan Ahmetoğlu attended the Committee's online meeting on January 10 and made a presentation on the content of the petition titled "Teaching Turkish to children from the Western Thrace Turkish community in Greece in pre-school education".
Ahmetoğlu stated that his child, who was 5 years old in 2019, had to go to the state kindergarten, which was taught only in Greek. Due to the fact that pre-school (kindergarten) education became compulsory in accordance with the law numbered 3518/2006 in Greece. He noted that since Turkish schools are not given the opportunity to provide pre-school education in their mother tongue Turkish, it is compulsory for his child and all Turkish children in the region to attend state kindergartens.
Ahmetoğlu stated that the failure of the Greek authorities to respond positively to the request of the Western Thrace Turkish community for kindergartens that will provide education in Turkish and Greek, just like the primary minority schools, caused serious problems for Turkish children and their parents.
Noting that his child first learns Turkish, which is his mother tongue, will enable him to learn Greek, the language of his country, more easily. He also emphasized that Greek authorities do not give this opportunity to children belonging to Western Thrace Turkish community in pre-school education.
Noting that the Western Thrace Turkish community has an autonomous status in education in accordance with the provisions of the 1923 Peace Treaty of Lausanne and has the right to open and operate all kinds of schools and to use their mother tongue there.
Ahmetoğlu said that the Greek Orthodox community in Turkey, whose status and rights were determined by the Peace Treaty of Lausanne, in the same way as the Western Thrace Turkish community, has kindergartens within their school system, where they receive education in their mother tongue, Greek.
Ahmetoğlu stated that the applications made by the education company operating in Western Thrace to open a Turkish and Greek bilingual private kindergarten for the children of the Western Thrace Turkish community, to learn their mother tongue Turkish and receive education in their mother tongue have been left unanswered by the Greek authorities until today.
He said that this leads to receive only Greek education for Turkish children had no choice but to go to the state kindergartens given to them.
Ahmetoğlu underlined that his own child and all children belonging to the Western Thrace Turkish community should not be deprived of the right to learn their mother tongue Turkish and to receive education in their mother tongue.
He demanded permission to establish kindergartens as well as bilingual private kindergartens where they can receive bilingual education, in Western Thrace.
After Ahmetoğlu's presentation, PETI Vice-President Tatjana Ždanoka (Greens/EFA, Latvia) chaired the meeting, and PETI member EP deputies Loránt Vincze (EPP-ED, Romania / FUEN-Federal Union of European Nations) and Margrete Auken (Greens/EFA, Denmark) supported the petition and recommended that the petition remain open.
At the meeting, it was decided to keep the petition submitted by Ahmetoğlu open and forward it to the EP Committee on Culture and Education to express an opinion.
You can reach the petition submitted by Ozan Ahmetoğlu, President of the Xanthi Turkish Union (ITB), regarding the lack of bilingual minority kindergartens that will provide education in Turkish and Greek in Western Thrace in 2019;
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/petitions/en/petition/content/0058%252F2019/html/Petition-No-0058%252F2019-by-Ozan-Ahmeto%25C4%259Flu-%2528Greek%2529-on -teaching-Turkish-in-pre-school-education-to-children-belonging-to-the-Turkish-community-in-Western-Thrace.
