The problems of the Turks of Western Thrace once again at the UN Minority Issues Forum
At the Forum, which was held with the theme of the 30th anniversary of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious Minorities, ABTTF and BTAYTD expressed the problems of the Western Thrace Turkish community and the Rhodes-Kos Turks in the field of minority rights.
The 15th Session of the United Nations (UN) Minority Issues Forum was held on 1-2 December 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland. Melek Kırmacı Arık, International Relations Director of the European Western Thrace Turkish Federation (ABTTF), and Kerem Abdurrahimoğlu, Human Rights Specialist from the Western Thrace Minority Graduates Association (BTAYTD), representing the Western Thrace Turkish community, attended the Forum themed “30th Anniversary of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Religious Minorities”.
During the two-day sessions of the Forum, where the normative framework of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious Minorities was discussed, the role of minority rights defenders in the implementation of the declaration was discussed, and what should be done to bridge the gap between rhetoric and practice in the implementation of the declaration was evaluated.
Speaking on the second day of the forum, ABTTF stated that Western Thrace Turkish community was made autonomous in the field of education and religion with the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, but this autonomous structure was destroyed by laws and circulars in the post-1967 period. Stating that Greece does not recognize the ethnic Turkish identity and uses the definition of “Muslim minority” in Thrace, ABTTF said that Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with students from Turkish primary schools in Rhodope Province on 24 November 2022, and since the Treaty of Lausanne, Turkish and Greek languages have been taught in Turkish primary schools. It was said that it could not even be said that the language of education given in these schools was Turkish, despite the bilingual education. Stating that Greece closed the associations with the word “Turkish” in their names, ABTTF has been following the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) of Greece for more than 14 years in the cases known as Bekir Usta and Others case group regarding the violation of the freedom of association of the Western Thrace Turkish community
ABTTF stated that, in addition to the Western Thrace Turkish community, the Turkish community living in Rhodes and Kos in Greece were not defined as a minority because the Dodecanese Islands did not belong to Greece at the time the Treaty of Lausanne was signed and were deprived of their minority rights. It was stated that their right to education in their mother tongue and their right to elect their religious leaders were taken away over time.
BTAYTD stated that the Western Thrace Turkish community has the right to establish and manage their own schools, but this right has been violated, and cited the deprivation of the rights of the councilors in the management of schools as an example to this situation. Stating that the right to elect the muftis, who are the religious leaders of the Western Thrace Turkish community, was taken away from them in the religious field, BTAYTD said that the state did not recognize the muftis chosen by the minority and appointed muftis. Stating that the Turkish community in Rhodes and Kos is not recognized as a minority by Greece, BTAYTD noted that the Turks in the islands are not given education in their mother tongue and the right to elect religious leaders. BTAYTD stated that civil society representatives in the region were targeted in the media after the international meetings they attended to defend minority rights, and that civil society representatives were exposed to criminal and financial investigations.
Using its right of reply, Greece claimed that it fulfilled its obligations regarding the Turkish community of Western Thrace with the expression "minority in Thrace".
The problems of the Western Thrace Turks have been expressed on different platforms in Europe for years. However, Greece says it always fulfills its obligations by denying the problems. Western Thrace Turkish Minority organizations send their representatives to different organizations in Europe, expressing the problems of Western Thrace Turks, and continue their solution-oriented work.
