ABTTF President: “The fight against racism and racial discrimination is of urgent importance, and steps should be taken in this regard, not in words but in substance. Indeed, as we always say it, while our country’s rulers are trying to create another reality to cover up the systematic discrimination our community has been subjected to for years, the situation in our region is the exact opposite. One of the clearest examples of this is the lawsuit filed for the revocation of the registration of the Western Thrace Fenerbahçe Association, which is today only a sports club supporters’ association, and the racist statements made on this subject’’.
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which is marked on 21 March, focuses on the urgency of combating racism and racial discrimination at the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In 1966, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. On 21 March, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which is celebrated with different events all over the world, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged states to take specific and urgent steps to combat racial discrimination in 2023, at the occasion of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN demanded states to take swift and firm steps in the legislature and executive to achieve equality and combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance.
Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), made the following statement at the occasion of the 21 March, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: ‘‘It is worrying to see that racism, racial discrimination and hate speech on the basis of race has increased in our country in as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 2023. Indeed, the Turkish community in Western Thrace continues to be seen as a threat and danger in its own country today as it was in the past. This perception, which is dominant in the state, government and politics, is deliberately reflected in the media in this way. As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk indicated it at the occasion of the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the fight against racism and racial discrimination is of urgent importance, and in this regard, it is necessary to take steps in substance, not in words. Indeed, as we always say it, while our country’s rulers are trying to create another reality to cover up the systematic discrimination our community has been subjected to for years, the situation in our region is the exact opposite. One of the clearest examples of this is the lawsuit filed for the revocation of the registration of the Western Thrace Fenerbahçe Association, which is today only a sports club supporters’ association, and the racist statements made on this subject. We demand our country Greece to stop perceiving and presenting our community as a threat and danger, and we demand that our country take the necessary steps to live in our own country without being subjected to racist and discriminatory practices as we deserve and respecting our rights’’.
