OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek responds to ABTTF

Knut Vollebaek, OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) High Commis-sioner on National Minorities, has replied to the letters, dated 2 August 2012 and 28 August 2012, by ABTTF President Halit Habipoglu addressing the violation of religious autonomy in Rhodes and the increasing number of hate motivated attacks on minorities in Greece.

In his response letter on 15 October 2012, Vollebaek appreciated the efforts of ABTTF for notify-ing himself on increasing xenophobic tendencies in Greece, in particular the last incident of Ibrahim Pasha Mosque in Rhodes. Alerting early warning mechanisms and taking early actions for the pro-tection of minorities among his duties, Vollebaek informed about his attentive monitoring on the respective OSCE participating States that have the potential to escalate into conflict. Having reiter-ated thanks for the notice of ABTTF, Vollebaek confirmed the information to be included into his analysis of the situation.

ABTTF reported on the Imam crisis in Rhodes to OSCE High Commissioner Vollebaek

ABTTF, in his letter dated 2 August 2012 to Knut Vollebaek, reported on Dimetoka Appointed Mufti Office appoint Hasan Karaali Imam to Ibrahim Pasha Mosque in Rhodes at the expense of terminating the mission of İlter Meço in service to the mosque as Imam for three years. Though not having this action within its authority, designation of a new Imam to the mosque in Rhodes by the Dimetoka Appointed Mufti demonstrates open violation of religious freedom of the Turkish minor-ity in Rhodes.

Xenophobic attacks are on the rise with the election of Golden Dawn to Greek Parliament

ABTTF reported on hate crimes towards Western Thrace Turkish minority while providing a gen-eral overview on the increasing xenophobic attacks to immigrants in Greece following the election of the far-right oriented Golden Dawn to Greek Parliament.