ABTTF paid a working visit to Strasbourg

During the meetings at PACE, ABTTF conveyed the new conditions brought by the amendment made in the draft law that would pay the way for application of ECHR judgments denote the Turkish community in Western Thrace perceived as a threat.

The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) paid on 9-11 October 2017 a working visit to Strasbourg parallel to the Autumn Plenary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Parallel to the meetings he as Vice-President of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) had in Strasbourg together with FUEN President Lorant Vincze and the accompanying delegation, ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu carried out a series of meetings in Strasbourg to articulate the current problems of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, Greece.

During the study visit, ABTTF President Habip Oğlu accompanied by K. Engin Soyyılmaz, ABTTF Head Office Manager, met with Geneive Mayer, Head of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) of the Council of Europe. In this meeting, Habip Oğlu informed although the draft law, that would pave the way for implementation of ECHR judgments regarding the Xanthi Turkish Union, Rodopi Turkish Women Association and Evros Minority Youth Association, was criticized for being withdrawn due to severe and even racist reactions of political parties in the Greek parliament as a result of the amendments made in the draft law due to the stipulations like “national security” and “public security” within the legal regulation adopted at the plenary session of the parliament on 10 October 2017, implementation of ECHR judgments regarding the Western Thrace Turks is made to be impeded.

During the meeting held on the same day with the Head of the Turkish delegation at PACE, Prof. Talip Küçükcan, Habip Oğlu conveyed him the current problems of the Turkish community in Western Thrace and articulated the ongoing problems in respect to its educational and religious autonomy.

On 11 October 2017, ABTTF delegation met with Romanian parliamentarian Viorel Riceard Badea, member of the PACE Sub-Committee on the Rights of Minorities. President of FUEN Lorant Vincze and members of the Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association (WTMUGA) Pervin Hayrullah and Sebahattin Abdurrahman also attended the meeting with Badea who will draft the report about the situation of minorities in Europe in 2017. At the meeting with Badea, as the Western Thrace Turkish delegation, ABTTF and WTMUGA informed although the Turkish community in Western Thrace has autonomy in education and religion, this autonomous structure has been destroyed through various practices, and conveyed the current problems experienced in the said two fields. Moreover, the delegation reported the racist attacks against the Turkish community in Western Thrace and explained a hatred-based discourse against the Western Thrace Turks dominates in media and politics.