Working visit from ABTTF to Strasbourg
During the study visit, ABTTF brought up the insistence that Greece did not implement the ECHR decisions regarding the associations of the Western Thrace Turkish community, and conveyed the current developments regarding the Western Thrace Turkish Minority.
During its working visit parallel to the Autumn Ordinary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 10-14 October 2022, ABTTF held meetings with the Council of Europe units and parliamentarians.
ABTTF representative brought up the current problems of Western Thrace Turkish community, especially the violation of freedom of association and the non-implementation of the ECtHR judgments regarding Bekir Usta and Others case group for more than 14 years.
During the two-day working visit, Melek Kırmacı Arık, Director of International Relations of ABTTF, met with; Clare Ovey, Head of the Executive Department of ECtHR Decisions of the Council of Europe, Zoë Bryanston-Cross, Responsible for Human Rights Meetings from the Secretariat of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, Advisor to the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Matthieu Birker, Kimmo Kiljunen, Head of Delegation, and Gerhard Ermischer, President of the Council of Europe's International Conference on NGOs.
During the meetings, ABTTF representative informed the delegations about Bekir Usta and Others case group about the current developments regarding the Xanthi Turkish Union, the Rhodope Turkish Women's Cultural Association and the Meriç Province Minority Youth Association.
In this context, ABTTF stated that with the decision of the Court of Cassation dated 31 August 2022, which rejected the appeal of the Xanthi Turkish Union on 29 June 2021, the other two associations rejected their appeals.
Disregarding the decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Court of Cassation dated June 2022, she stated that the Rhodope Province Turkish Women Cultural Association and the Meriç Province Minority Youth Association rejected their appeals and that they had completed the domestic legal process of the three associations.
During the meetings, ABTTF drew attention to the potential risk of this situation, stating that the perception of the “enemy within the country” towards the Western Thrace Turkish community in politics and media has led to an increase in hate speech and hate-based attacks.
Stating that people representing the Western Thrace Turkish community have been targeted recently in the written and visual media and the hate speech towards these people has increased.
ABTTF noted that the death threats against Xanthi SYRIZA Deputy Hüseyin Zeybek in a live broadcast on a local television channel increased the concerns.
