Outrageous attack on the New Mosque in the Greek city of Komotini!

ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu: “The Turkish minority of Western Thrace has been living in the region for centuries and is a part of Greece”

The New Mosque (Yeni Cami) belonging to the Turkish minority of Western Thrace in the Greek city of Komotini was attacked on 10 October 2015. According to the daily Millet, an unidentified person or persons spray-painted black, presumably at night, “ΕΞΩ ΟΙ ΤΟΥΡΚΟΙ (Turks Out)” on the historical wooden door of the mosque. It is quite conspicuous that the attack occurred on the same day as men’s football team of Galatasaray İstanbul SK arrived in Komotini to play a friendly match against PAE Panthrakikos.

“As ABTTF, we strongly condemn this outrageous attack on the New Mosque in Komotini and demand the perpetrators to be seized and brought to justice. The Turkish minority of Western Thrace has been living together with the Greek majority peacefully in the region for centuries and is a part of Greece. The real intention behind this racist attack against our minority is, as in the similar cases in the past, to harm peace and tranquillity in the region by causing tension between the majority and minority. At this point, the primary responsibility for the prevention of such tensions lies with the Greek state and society themselves” stated Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).