Western Thrace Turks host FUEN TAG 9th Annual Meeting
The 9th Annual Meeting of the Working Group on Turkish Minorities/Communities (TAG) of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) was held in Western Thrace hosted by the Turkish community in Western Thrace on 1-4 November 2023.
Representatives of ten Turkish organisations from eight different countries of Europe participated in the meeting, which was jointly organised by the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), Friendship Equality Peace (FEP) Party and Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association (WTMUGA), which together represent the Turkish Community in Western Thrace in FUEN and brought together Turkish minorities and communities from the Balkans to the Caucasus.
ABTTF, FEP Party and WTMUGA representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace; International Association of Meskhetian Turks "VATAN" representing the Meskhetian Turks; Kosovo Young Union Association representing the Turks in Kosovo; Crimean Tatar National Assembly (KTMM) representing the Crimean Tatars; Tatar Democratic Union representing the Tatar community in Romania; Kardzhali Turkish Culture and Art Association (TÜRKSAD) representing the Turks in Bulgaria; Ukrainian Gagauz Union representing the Gagauz people in Ukraine and "Meras" Association for the Protection and Development of Gagauz Language and Culture representing the Gagauz people in Moldova.
The participants had the opportunity to get to know the Turkish community in Western Thrace and the region of Western Thrace closely
Within the framework of the cultural and visit programme hosted by ABTTF, FEP Party and WTMUGA, the participants were received by the Consul General of the Republic of Turkey in Komotini, Aykut Ünal at the Consulate General's garden on Thursday, 2 November. Following the meeting with Consul General Ünal, the participants visited respectively the Elected Mufti's Office of Komotini, FEP Party Headquarters, WTMUGA Headquarters, Western Thrace Minority Culture and Education Company (BAKEŞ), Komotini Turkish Youth Union (GTGB) and Western Thrace Turkish Teachers' Union (BTTÖB). During the visits, the participants were informed about the activities and operations of the mentioned institutions and organisations and they saw the problems of the Turkish community in Western Thrace on site.
After the visits, the participants visited the city centre of Komotini with a guide and in the evening attended the cultural night hosted by GTGB. In the night, BTTÖB Turkish Art Music Choir gave a special concert to the participants.
On 3 November Friday, the participants travelled from Komotini to Xanthi and first met with Mustafa Trampa, Elected Mufti of Xanthi and then visited the Turkish Union of Xanthi (ITB). During the meetings, the problems experienced by the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the field of freedom of religion and freedom of association were conveyed and the participants were informed about the 40 years of struggle for rights and legal struggle of ITB.
A common road map for 2024 was created with the opinions and suggestions of the participants
On 3 November Friday afternoon, FUEN TAG 9th Annual Meeting was held at WTMUGA Xanthi Cultural Centre. FUEN TAG Spokesperson Halit Habip Oğlu stated that due to the pandemic and then the Ukraine-Russia war, after 2018, they finally organised this meeting physically hosted by the Turkish community in Western Thrace, of which he is a member, and noted that they want to continue all the activities they have suspended as of 2024 and to visit FUEN TAG member organisations on site.
FUEN Vice President Nabi İbrahimcik also gave information about the developments in FUEN in the last year and FUEN's activities.
In the continuation of the meeting, the representatives of Western Thrace Turks, Meskhetian Turks, Kosovo Turks, Bulgarian Turks, Crimean Tatars, Romanian Tatars, Ukrainian Gagauzians and Moldovan Gagauzians talked about the problems of the Turkish minorities and communities they belong to and the activities of the organisations they represent.
The meeting, where FUEN TAG's activities for 2024 were discussed, ended with the determination of the 2024 activity programme and common road map with the contributions of the participating organisations.
After the meeting, the participants came together at the cultural night hosted by ITB and the ITB Turkish Art Music Choir gave a concert.
