Union of Councillors issues an open letter to Education Minister Pierrakakis

Western Thrace
Sun, 23 Jul 2023 17:24 GMT
The Union of Councillors of Minority Schools in Western Thrace sent an open letter to the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports Pierrakakis
Union of Councillors issues an open letter to Education Minister Pierrakakis

In the open letter sent to the Minister of Education-Religious Affairs and Sports Pierrakakis signed by Ahmet Kara, President of the Union of Western Thrace Minority Schools Councillors, the issue of minority schools closed in violation of international agreements and conventions was brought to the agenda.

In the letter, it was expressed that the decisions regarding the closure of minority schools should be reversed and the demand for consultation with the relevant minority organisations was brought to the agenda in order to bring the minority education to the level it should be in the following process.

In the open letter sent by the Union of Western Thrace Minority Schools Councillors to Mr Pierrakakis, Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, the following statements were made:

"Dear Minister, first of all we would like to congratulate you on your new assignment and express our hope that you will do successful work in such an important ministry as the Ministry of Education

Although we have repeatedly conveyed the problems and injustices experienced in the field of minority education to the local and central authorities of the ministry verbally and in writing through our relevant organisations, we have observed that no steps have been taken to eliminate these unfair practices, and even the issues related to minority education have been deliberately dragged on without even being submitted to the relevant minister. 

Mr Pierrakakis, upon the addition of the decision to close nine (9) minority primary schools this year to the unlawful school closure decisions we experience every year, as an organisation that strives to bring minority education to the level it should be at, we feel the need to share the status of minority schools with you and the public once again.

Dear Minister,

The status of Minority Education is regulated by the Lausanne Peace Treaty and the subsequent education protocols signed between Türkiye and Greece.

It is understood from the content of the 40th, 41st and 45th articles of the Treaty of Lausanne that the Minority was granted the right to open, manage and supervise its own schools.

None of the aforementioned agreements stipulates that minority schools can be closed by the decision of the relevant authorities of the state. The State, through the Ministry of Education, has only the right of supervision over the minority schools. Although this is the legal status, it is unacceptable that minority schools are closed down by the state with completely unlawful decisions on the pretext of lack of students, and that the basis for this is the provisions of the legislation, which do not concern minority schools and are valid only for public schools. 

Please do not take refuge in the lie that these decisions are not closure decisions and that these schools will be reopened when the number of students increases. Because, until today, no closed school has been reopened.

While the total number of minority primary schools in the provinces of Evros, Rhodope and Xanthi was 227 20 years ago, this number was reduced to 90 with the last closure decision. In other words, exactly 137 minority primary schools have been unlawfully closed in 20 years. 

Furthermore, we would like to inform you that there are pending applications against Greece before the ECtHR on the grounds of violation of the right to education. The fact that an application has been made to the ECtHR against a country known as the cradle of democracy is a matter that should be of concern to the authorities of your ministry.

In the light of the foregoing, we would like to inform you that we expect you to take the necessary steps for the reversal of these unlawful decisions and to consult with the relevant minority organisations in order to bring minority education to the level it should be in the following process. 

Yours sincerely,

Ahmet KARA

President of the Union of Western Thrace Minority Schools' Councillors

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