Parallel report from ABTTF for the U.S. 2016 Human Rights Report on Greece

The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) prepared a report with comments and responses to the U.S. 2016 Greece Human Rights Report regarding the issues of Western Thrace Turks and conveyed the report to the U.S Department of State and to other related diplomatic missions. In its parallel report, ABTTF, both elaborated on the issues that were elucidated superficially and deficiently and conveyed information about the recent developments in the region.

ABTTF: Allegation that "Western Thrace Turks are imposing pressures on Pomaks and Roma" is unrealistic!

In response to the report in which problems of Western Thrace Turks were covered partially with the expression "Muslim minority in Thrace", ABTTF noted that ethnic identity of the Muslim minority, of which its minority status had been defined with Lausanne Treaty, was explicitly stated Turkish the population exchange treaty. In response to the assertions that Pomaks and Roma within the Muslim minority in Thrace were subjected to the pressure by the "Turkish speaking community", ABTTF underlined that this assertion does not reflect the reality.

In the Bekir Ousta group of cases if Greece does not take a concrete step the Committee of Ministers shall take a second interim resolution

ABTTF stated that the associations belonging to Western Thrace Turks with the word "Turkish" in their names are closed down and new associations are not registered, and it articulated that Greece insistently does not apply the verdicts despite the fact that it was found unjust in three different cases known to be Bekir Ousta group of cases which were brought to the European Court of Human Rights. ABTTF informed of the last examination by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe was held in March 2017 and stated that if Greece does not take concrete steps yielding to a result until September 2017, the Committee of Ministers would then take a second interim resolution.

Juridical proceedings against representatives of Western Thrace Turks have turned into an instrument for threatening and intimidating the community

Regarding police’s excessive authority, ABTTF expressed that juridical proceedings for the representatives of the Western Thrace Turk have turned into an instrument for threatening and intimidating the community and criticized that detaining of İsmet Kadı, Mayor of Iasmos(Yassıköy) Municipality by heading off him upon the instruction of the police. In its parallel report, ABTTF indicated that Ahmet Mete, Elected Mufti of Xanthi and İbrahim Şerif, Elected Mufti of Komotini being condemned for usurpation of the office of mufti is a message desired to be given to the community at large. ABTTF expressed that juridical proceedings started within the scope of accusations against the President and the Vice President of Friendship, Equality, Peace (FEP) Party, which is the representative of the Western Thrace Turks in the political field have an intention to threaten the Turkish community living in the region.

With a unilateral action, the Greek Government is preparing for the complete abolishment of religious autonomy with the pretext of providing solution for the Mufti issue

As a response to the report in which it is stated the Muftis are empowered with sharia powers in the fields of inheritance and civil law, ABTTF indicated that the right of the Western Thrace Turks to elect their own religious leaders was granted to them by international treaties and has been usurped by the Greek Government since 1991. ABTTF underlined that the muftis exercising the sharia powers today are the ones appointed by the Greek state. Conveying the recent developments about the muftis, ABTTF informed about it concern that the commission which has been recently established with the aim to modernize Mufti offices includes no one from Western Thrace Turks. ABTTF underlined that the state is unilaterally preparing for abolishing the religious autonomy.

The educational autonomy of the Western Thrace Turks is disregarded

Under discrimination section, ABTTF indicated that the autonomous structure in education is destroyed and criticized that there is only one secondary school in each of the provinces of Rhodope and Xanthi despite that the population of the Western Thrace Turks are dense in these provinces. Nevertheless, ABTTF noted although the Western Thrace Turks are autonomous in education, number of minority schools in the region is decreased as a result of the application of closing down the schools with low number of students for economic reasons and that this application also included minority primary schools.

ABTTF reported physical and verbal attacks against the Western Thrace Turks

ABTTF criticized that hate-motivated physical and verbal attacks against the Western Thrace Turks were not covered by the report and reported separately attacks happened in 2016 and between the period January-April 2017. Within this framework, ABTTF along with other assaults, conveyed in detail the attack perpetrated by deputies of neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party to an event organized by the ABTTF in Brussels in March 2016 and the attack to an event organized by the FEP Party in Athens in December 2016.