The Turkish Minority of Western Thrace in U.S. Religious Freedom Report for 2013 on Greece

ABTTF President Halit Habip Oglu: U.S. Religious Freedom Report fully reflects the offi-cial position of the Greek government, it does not include problems that Western Thrace Turkish Minority faces in religious field

The report includes that Muslim minority in Thrace (Western Thrace) officially recognized by Lausanne Peace Treaty has an estimated population of 120.000(1.1 percent of total population) re-siding in Western Thrace. The report notes that the government amended a law (240 Imams Law) in January 2013 to hire 240 Islamic religious instructors in order to teach the Qur'an in the public schools of Thrace (Western Thrace). However, the report does not mention why the Turkish Minor-ity persistently opposes 240 Imams Law.

Permits for reconstruction of for houses of prayer and worship

According to the report, the government in August 2013 passed a law which allows issuance of permits for reconstruction and renovation for mosques and places of worship which are accepted as unauthorized buildings that lack property titles and are not in compliance with zoning regulations.

The Mufti Issue

The report notes that the Lausanne Treaty gives the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace the right to maintain mosques and social and charitable organizations, i.e. vakfs, allows Muftis(appointed), of whom salaries are paid by the government, to render religious judicial services in the area of family law, and provides bilingual education that were guaranteed by Lausanne Treaty. The report further notes but these rights doe not include the Muslims living outside Western Thrace.

Furthermore, it is noted in the report that the government recognizes only government-appointed Muslim clergy and that there are no Muslim clergy outside of Western Thrace and the some Muslims who live on the Dodecanese islands demand the rights and the recognition which the Lausanne Treaty brings up.

The report notes, “Some members of the Thrace Muslim minority continued to lobby for direct election of muftis by the community while retaining their judicial powers. The government main-tained it had the right to appoint muftis because the government appointed all judges, and the muftis performed judicial sharia functions. Some Thrace Muslims accepted the authority of the gov-ernment-appointed muftis, while others chose two unofficial muftis to serve their communities. The government did not recognize these two muftis, who did not have civil authority. Some Muslims also pressed for direct election of official imams”.

The President of Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) Halit Habip Oglu: “U.S. Religious Freedom Report fully reflects the official position of the government and does not include the problems that the Turkish Minority faces in religious field. As ABTTF, we will prepare a parallel report in which we will clearly state why we have the right to elect our own Muftis and why 240 Imams Law violates the right to freedom of religion and conscience”.

You can access the report using the following link:
http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm#wrapper