The sign of the Xanthi Turkish Union removed 40 years ago
The sign of the Xanthi Turkish Union, the Cultural Center of Western Thrace Turks, was removed by the police exactly 40 years ago.
In the statement published by the Xanthi Turkish Union under the title "7 DECEMBER 1983 - 7 DECEMBER 2023", the 40-year struggle that started with the dismantling of the sign was emphasized.
In the statement, "On December 7, 1983, the sign at the entrance of the association building both in Turkish and Greek was removed. "A closure case was filed with the claim that "there are no Turks in Western Thrace" and the nonsense that our association "poses a threat to public order and national security." The statement was included.
The statement made by the Xanthi Turkish Union is as follows:
“7 DECEMBER 1983 - 7 DECEMBER 2023
Exactly 40 years ago today, on December 7, 1983, the sign of the Xanthi Turkish Union, the first non-governmental organization of Western Thrace Turks, was removed by the police.
Exactly 40 years have passed since the sign of the Xanthi Turkish Union was removed by the police on the grounds that it contained the phrase "Turk" in its name, denying the ethnic identity of an entire community by saying "There are no Turks in Western Thrace". Yes, exactly 40 years!
A struggle for democracy that has been going on for 40 years,
A legal struggle that has been going on for 40 years,
A struggle for human rights that has been going on for 40 years.
Therefore, it is a 40-year-long struggle against the discrimination, oppression, denial, injustice, and practices contrary to the understanding of democracy and international law that we have been subjected to.
December 7, 1983 is one of the most important turning points of the biggest attack and oppression movement against our identity, history and culture of Western Thrace Turks.
On December 7, 1983, the Turkish and Greek signs at the entrance of the association building removed by the police. A closure case was filed with the fallacy "A long judicial process began against the closure decision made by the court based on the above-mentioned theses regarding the Xanthi Turkish Union, and our struggle in domestic law lasted for 22 years. At the end of this long process, in February 2005, the General Assembly of the Greek Supreme Court unfortunately approved the closure of the Xanthi Turkish Union.
This decision, announced in February 2005, caused great disappointment and reaction in the Western Thrace Turkish Minority. The Western Thrace Turkish Minority did not see the court decisions about the Xanthi Turkish Union and other Turkish minority associations as a legal decision in any way, and described the decisions in question as a political decision based on denying the Turkish ethnic identity of the minority.
After this stage, the Xanthi Turkish Union, which carried its struggle for rights to the international arena, took the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
In its decision announced in 2008, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) convicted Greece for its decision to close the Xanthi Turkish Union and ruled that Greece violated the European Convention on Human Rights with this decision.
However, Greece has insisted on not implementing the ECHR decisions regarding the Xanthi Turkish Union and other decisions on Turkish minority associations for 15 years. Greece, which ignores the calls and pressures of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the Executive Office of the ECHR and other international organizations to implement the decisions of the ECHR, is experiencing a great contradiction with its own rhetoric.
This mentality, which offends the Turks of Western Thrace and is far from the norms of democracy and international law, has become one of the most important issues that damage the relationship of trust between the minority community and the Greek state of which we are citizens.
The removal of the signs of minority associations because they had the phrase "Turk" in their names became a symbol of the denial of the ethnic identity of the Western Thrace Muslim Turkish Community.
Exactly 40 years have passed since the association sign at the entrance of the Xanthi Turkish Union was removed on December 7, 1983, because the word "Turk" was included in its name.
As the Xanthi Turkish Union, we continue our struggle with great determination for the implementation of the ECHR decisions, the restoration of the legal status and legal personality of our association, and the end of 40 years of anti-democratic practices, oppression and discrimination.
We would like to thank the former presidents and managers of the Xanthi Turkish Union, the lawyers who have served until today, the members of our association, all our compatriots and those who are with us in our rightful cause, who have contributed to our STRUGGLE FOR RIGHTS during this period of 40 years, and we declare that we will not give up this struggle until justice is served. We would like to shout once again..."
