Request for registration of the Evrenköy Minority Culture Folklore Education Association dismissed

The Komotini Civil Court of First Instance dismissed the request for registration of the Evrenköy Minority Culture Folklore Education Association.

According to a news from the periodical Rodop Rüzgarı, the Komotini Civil Court of First Instance dismissed on 13 April 2011 the request for registration of EM 344/27.10.2010 of the association on the ground that the word “minority” in its title was specified neither as “Muslim” nor as “Turkish”. The Court of First Instance held that in case it was referred to “Turkish” with the word “minority”, the title of the association was contrary to public policy and so dismissed the request for registration of the Evrenköy Minority Culture Folklore Education Association.

With regard to the subject matter, Halit Habipoğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) made the following statement: “We have become aware of the refusal of the Komotini Civil Court of First Instance to register the Evrenköy Minority Culture Folklore Education Association from the press. The decision of the Greek court explicitly indicates that there has been no concrete development in relation to the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) by Greece.”