ABTTF submitted a written statement to the UN Human Rights Council

ABTTF raises in its written statement the problems having been faced by the Turkish minority of Western Thrace in Greece with regard to the ethnic recognition and freedom of association

The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) submitted a written statement entitled “The Non-Recognition of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace in Greece and Limitations on the Right to Association of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace in Greece” to the 31st regular session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UN) to be held from 29 February to 24 March 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland. ABTTF refers in its written statement to the fact that Greece does recognize the Turkish minority of Western Thrace as the “Muslim minority in Thrace” and deny its ethnic Turkish identity and the minority associations carrying the word “Turkish” in their titles were either banned or the applications of the new ones for registration were refused by the Greek authorities. ABTTF notes the Greek government declared in 1983 there are no Turks in Greece and on the grounds of this justification, the Greek courts ordered in 1986 the dissolution of the Turkish Union of Xanthi, the Turkish Youth Union of Komotini and the Turkish Teachers’ Union of Western Thrace.

ABTTF states the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held unanimously in 2007 and 2008 through its three judgments with regard to the to the cases of the Turkish Union of Xanthi, the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Region of Rodopi and Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association which were either dissolved or not registered by the Greek courts on the grounds that their names included the words “Turkish” or “minority” that Greece had violated the freedom of association of the Turkish minority of Western Thrace, Greece has not implemented yet these judgments.

ABTTF expresses the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has been closely following since 2008 the developments concerning the implementation of the Court judgments under the name of “Bekir Ousta group” of cases against Greece, adding the Committee of Ministers adopted on 5 June 2014 an interim resolution and called on the Greek authorities to take all necessary measures for the implemantation of these. ABTTF further refers to the report written by the parliamentarian Klaas de Vries and adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) during its Autumn Session 2015, in which it is mentioned Greece is one of the nine member states with the highest number of unenforced Court judgments with 558 cases which were not implemented by Greece by the end of 2014.

ABTTF concludes its written statement by calling on the Greek government to implement, without any further delay, the ECtHR judgments with regard to the cases of the Tourkiki Enosi Xanthis vs. Greece, Bekir-Ousta and others vs. Greece and Emin and others vs. Greece, to amend the national Code of Civil Procedures in such a way that it allows the implementation of the Court judgments in matters related to freedom of association and to develop strategies that are inclusive of minorities which would be part of an overall governmental policy for the promotion and protection of minority rights in Greece

The full text version of the written statement submitted by ABTTF to the 31st regular session of the UN Human Rights Council is available at:
http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/sdpage_e.aspx?b=10&se=171&t=7