Habip Oğlu met the Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee at Turkish Parliament

Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) President and Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) Vice-President Halit Habip Oğlu, met with AK Party Member of Parliament from Malatya and the Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee at Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) Taha Özhan at his office in Ankara for the first time. Accompanied by ABTTF International Affairs Director Melek Kırmacı Arık, Habip Oğlu firstly expressed his condolences in the name of ABTTF and Western Thrace Turks in Europe in the aftermath of the traitorous coup attempt committed by FETÖ/PDY terrorist organisation on 15 July 2016 in motherland Turkey.

ABTTF works internationally for the rights of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace

Saying that he also belongs to the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace in Greece, Habip Oğlu stated that the minority members who migrated to Germany began setting up local associations in different cities. These associations came together in 1988 under the umbrella of ABTTF, which functions a sort of Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace. Noting that the minority exists and fights for its rights through elected Muftis, parliamentarians, Friendship, Equality Peace (FEP) Party and associations, Habip Oğlu explained that ABTTF conducted different activities at international platforms as an NGO and gave the example of the fact-finding missions to the Western Thrace organised with the participation of MEP’s and European NGO’s.

The problems of Turkic communities/minorities are regularly raised at international platforms thanks to the working group established under FUEN

Habip Oğlu stated that he has been Vice-President of FUEN (Federal Union of European Nationalities), which is the largest umbrella organisation for traditional and national minorities/ethnic groups in Europe, since 2013. He further informed that, in addition to the already-existing German and Slavic working groups, the Working Group of Turkic Communities/Minorities (TAG) was established under FUEN thanks to his initiatives. Informing Mr. Özhan about the Turkic associations within FUEN TAG, Habip Oğlu said that the first FUEN TAG meeting was held in 2014 in Ankara while the second one was organised in 2015 in Baku. He told that the third meeting will be conducted this year in the German capital, Berlin with the backing of FUEN Working Group of German Minorities. Habip Oğlu explained that they were especially focusing on the urgent problems of Turkish Minority of Western Thrace, Rhodes and Kos Turks, Meskhetian Turks and Crimean Tatars as FUEN TAG and further informed about the works undertaken at international platforms of Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE), Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the UN. Habip Oğlu stated that one of the objectives of FUEN TAG was to bring together the Turkic communities/minorities in Turkic geography under FUEN, with a special attention to the Balkan region, and help them raise their voices harder at international arena. Listening carefully to the explanations of Habip Oğlu, Mr. Özhan expressed his gratitude for the short briefing and stated that the efforts in favour of Turkic communities/minorities were invaluable.