A conference at the European Parliament calls upon Athens for a constructive dialogue with its ethnic Turkish minority

Presentation of a 30-page preliminary report of a fact-finding mission to Thrace (*)

HRWF (30.11.2012) - "A commitment to mutual trust and respect between the Greek State and the minority of ethnic Turks is a prerequisite to any long-lasting solution and implementing without further delay outstanding decisions by the European Court of Human Rights would be a positive first step," according to Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers International and author of the report entitled "Ethnic Turks in Greece, a Muslim minority".

On 28 November, François Alfonsi, co-chair of the Intergroup on Minorities at the European Parliament, which hosted a conference on "Human Rights Violations against Ethnic Turks in Greece", had also invited Hülya Emin and Cemil Kabza of Gündem as well as Cengiz Ömer of Millet, all media people of the ethnic Turkish minority sentenced to exorbitant fines for alleged defamation.

Sinan Kavaz, attorney of the Xanthi Turkish Union, was the spokesperson of the three associations created by ethnic Turks which were either banned or denied registration, a blatant violation of freedom of association condemned in 2008 by the European Court of Human Rights but never corrected by Athens.

The muftis of Komotini and Xanthi, elected by the Muslim community, also took the floor to denounce the law of 1991 which gave the power to the Greek state to deprive them of their title and to appoint state muftis, rejected by the Muslim community of ethnic Turks. Mufti Ibrahim Serif was even sentenced to a prison term, converted afterwards into a fine, for allegedly usurping an official title but again, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Greece for violating their freedom of religion.

Several former members of the Greek Parliament belonging to the ethnic Turkish minority also took the floor to complain about the lack of progress in the adaptation of the Greek laws to the human rights norms of the United Nations and the Council of Europe protecting minorities.

Halit Habipoğlu, president of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe, recalled that under the Treaty of Lausanne, the minority had the right to run its own schools but with the passing of time they have been run both by the State and the minority. "Since the Treaty's coming into force, around 70 laws, decrees and circular letters by the Ministry of Education have irremediably eroded the autonomy of the minority schools," he said. This has allowed State intervention in their management to such an extent that in practice, the Greek Government, through the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, has wide-ranging control over the minority schools at all levels, whether it concerns the composition and the functioning of the school boards, the hiring and firing of teachers or the distribution of textbooks.

He also stressed that since the Greek Parliament passed Law 3518/2006 introducing compulsory school education from the age of five, the Government has consistently rejected all proposals to open Turkish-Greek kindergartens in the 174 existing bilingual primary schools operating in premises which belong to the ethnic Turks' community although the community is ready to finance this initiative.

In conclusion, MEP François Alfonsi said: "Whatever their ethnicity, their mother tongue or their self-identification, the people belonging to that minority have individual and collective rights that must be respected: equal opportunities of access to the school system of their choice (bilingual minority schools or Greek-language schools), the right to quality education for their children, freedom of association as defined by international instruments and the jurisprudence of the European Court, the autonomy of their religious community and the non-interference of the State in its internal functioning, a friendly environment for the development of their specific media and the preservation of their culture."

The ethnic Turks in Greece, Human Rights Without Frontiers International and MEP François Alfonsi expect from the Greek Government to implement without further delay the three 2008 decisions of the European Court confirming that three associations created by ethnic Turks have been wrongfully banned or denied registration and should therefore be granted the legal status that they request.

This action, which has been awaited for years, would go a long way toward restoring goodwill and constructive dialogue with the minority of Thrace.

(*) See the full report at http://www.hrwf.org


Source: Human Rights Without Frontiers Int'l