ABTTF submitted a written statement to the UN Human Rights Council

ABTTF communicated in its written statement the problem of the Turkish community in Western Thrace regarding the right to education in mother tongue and bilingual minority kindergartens.

The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ATTF) submitted a written statement entitled “The problem of bilingual preschool education in Western Thrace, Greece” to the 35th regular session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council held on 6-23 June 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland. In its written statement, ABTTF notes the Turkish community in Western Thrace was granted the right to education in its mother tongue and autonomy in the management of its educational institutions with the Treaty of Lausanne, and underlines the Western Thrace Turks have got the right to establish and administer their own educational institutions.

ABTTF states educational autonomy has been undermined and diminished by governmental practices over years, and noted today, the Greek authorities have wide-ranging control over minority schools at all levels, although preschool education in Greece is within the scope of compulsory education, there are no bilingual kindergartens for the Turkish children to learn their mother tongue, the Greek authorities insistently object to opening of bilingual minority kindergartens where education would be provided both in Turkish and Greek within the minority school system of the Turkish community in Western Thrace.

ABTTF informs at the beginning of the scholar year of 2012-2013, children belonging to the Western Thrace Turkish community in the village of Echinos (Şahin) affiliated to province of Xanthi were not enrolled in the first grade of primary school since they had not attended state kindergartens, their parents mentioned they did not want to send their children to the state kindergartens which only provide education in Greek language, there is yet no step taken by the Greek authorities for not to have this situation experienced in the village of Echinos (Şahin) again in the upcoming school year, and the parents expect to have bilingual minority kindergartens opened. Furthermore, ABTTF states despite that organizations belonging to the Turks community in Western Thrace had made numerous applications, the Greek authorities do not allow for opening of private bilingual minority kindergartens in the region.

In its written statement, ABTTF calls on the Greek government to establish bilingual minority kindergartens within the minority school system in the Western Thrace, and to allow the Turkish community to establish private bilingual minority kindergartens where education would be provided both in Turkish and Greek languages.

The full text of the written statement submitted by ABTTF to 35th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council is available at:
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G17/145/76/PDF/G1714576.pdf?OpenElement