The problems of the Turks in Western Thrace were once again raised at the OSCE Human Dimension Meeting
The Higher Educateds Association in Western Thrace (BTAYTD) members Ali Hüseyinoğlu and Pervin Hayrullah and the European Western Thrace Turkish Federation (ABTTF) representative Aykut Gariboğlu attended in the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) representing the Western Thrace Turkish Minority.
In this meeting, where our representatives have repeatedly attended and expressed our problems in the same way, they expressed once again the unsolved problems of the minority and the injustices of the Greek state against the Western Thrace Turks. The Greek delegation continued to lie as usual and tried to explain that life in Western Thrace continues smoothly.
In the 6th and 7th sessions of the meeting, a total of four presentations were made on behalf of the Turks in Western Thrace. On the fourth day of the meeting, Ali Hüseyinoğlu, who spoke as a representative of the Higher Educateds Association in Western Thrace (BTAYTD) in the morning, pointed the religious-based problems experienced by Muslims throughout Greece.
Hüseyinoğlu, who stated that the reparations in Çelebi Mehmet Sultan Mosque in Dimetoka, which had been severely damaged after the fire last year, have not started yet, referring to the presence of some journalists who obviously express their satisfaction with this incident.
In addition, he stated that the mosques belonging to the Turks of the Western Thrace living outside the Western Thrace region were closed last year and that they were not allowed to be opened yet. He has also invited the Greek state to become more active and to go one step ahead for the Turk and non-Turk Muslims who cannot freely under the direction of their religion.
Muftis and the members of the board of waqf administrators have been employed by the Greek governments for decades, Hüseyinoğlu said, despite all the objections the double-headed mufti institutions still continues today. Moreover, there are no steps taken by Greece about the election in the waqfs and there is religious leader dictated by the state according to the "240 Imam Law" known as a new practice.
During the 8th, 10th and 11th sessions of the meeting, Pervin Hayrullah spoke on behalf of BTAYTD and conveyed the problems of Western Thrace Turks to education, Article 19 and freedom of association to the country delegations and other representatives.
Referring to the minority kindergarten problem of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace, Hayrullah stated that BAKEŞ has applied twice to open a kindergarten however the Greek authorities left these applications unanswered.
Hayrullah stated that the rule of law in Greece is far from being a rising value in recent years, and that there is no law for minorities, Turkish and Macedonian minorities are not recognized, and that they do not know from which of their rights they will be deprived.
The Greek delegation in his response to the representatives of the minority emphasized that everything is in accordance with the laws and international agreements, that the mosques are open and that there was an exemplary shared life in Western Thrace. The Greek state, which ignores the problems and demands of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace, also expresses to Europe -concealing the facts-, that what has been done so far is in line with international agreements. With this attitude, the Greek state once again demonstrates that they will be far from solving the issues of the Turkish Minority and will keep proving that the oppressions are complied with the law.
