The problems of Western Thrace Turks in the OSCE Human Dimension Conference

Representing Western Thrace Turks to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Human Dimension Conference in Warsaw, human rights experts Dr. Pervin Hayrullah, Kerem Abdurahimoğlu and Deniz Servantie attended.

Deniz Servantie from the Brussels office of the ABTTF, at the conference held by the OSCE Polish Presidency with the support of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), said: In his session titled “intolerance”, he noted that the systematic violations of the religious autonomy of the Western Thrace Turkish society, guaranteed by the treaties, continue in Greece.

The conference was held by the OSCE Polish Presidency with the support of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) from 26 September to 7 October.

Deniz Servantie from the ABTTF Brussels Representation office took the floor in the session titled “racism, xenophobia, discrimination and intolerance, including those based on religion or belief”.

Servantie noted that systematic violations of the religious autonomy of the Western Thrace Turkish community, guaranteed by treaties, continue in Greece.

The ABTTF representative stated that the state does not recognize the muftis elected by the Western Thrace Turkish community and that there is a dual structure in Western Thrace, namely the state-appointed muftis and the elected muftis. He noted that muftis elected by the Turkish society were prosecuted for illegally using religious symbols and were sentenced to prison terms.

Referring to the legal structure of the Mufti, Servantie explained that the religious autonomy of the Western Thrace Turkish community was further weakened by the Presidential Decree No. 52/2019.

Deniz Servantie pointed out that with the new law, which violates the 1913 Athens Treaty and the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, it was aims the  full control and supervision over the autonomous muftis.

ABTTF representative stated that after the death of Mufti of Xanthi Ahmet Mete, during the election of a new mufti in Xanthi, deputies and representatives of the Western Thrace Turkish community were directly targeted by politicians and the Greek media.

Stating that Greece does not comply with EU standards, the ABTTF representative underlined that Greece's policies and practices regarding the freedom of association and the right to exercise religious freedom of Western Thrace Turkish society do not comply with European Union (EU) standards and the European Convention on Human Rights to which it is a party.

Deniz Servantie calledo the Greek government to respect the right of the Western Thrace Turkish community to elect their own religious leaders, muftis, in accordance with the 1913 Athens Treaty and the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

Servantie, who attended the meeting on behalf of the ABTTF, called on Greece to cancel the new law titled "Modernization of Mufti Offices in Thrace" with the Presidential Decree dated 52/2019.

BTAYTD representative’s interventions

Speaking at the 4th and 5th sessions of the conference, which lasted 10 days, entitled Fundamental Rights and Freedom of Expression, Dr. Pervin Hayrullah and Kerem Abdurahimoğlu stated that the Western Thrace Turks and their representatives have been facing an increasing problems of marginalization and targeting in the recent period.

Western Thrace Minority Graduates Associatino (BTAYTD) human rights experts, who took the floor in the 5th session of the conference on Tolerance, Anti-Discrimination and National Minorities, said that Western Thrace is one of the most underdeveloped regions of Europe and Greece. BTAYTD representatives, in this backwardness, arbitrary interventions in minority education, which should be autonomous according to Lausanne; They stated that the development plans made with demographic concerns in the region and the problems faced by the Turkish Minority in accessing many opportunities such as EU funds played a major role.

BTAYTD with its recommendations called on OSCE participating countries to encourage Greece to end discrimination, primarily by recognizing the ethnic Turkish identity of the Turkish minority.