Last phase in the plan of abolishment of educational autonomy!

Dear Western Thrace Turks,

On the first days of the year so as to abolish our religious autonomy there were news like, within the scope of 240 İmam Law the Greek Government had a plan to make the religious instructors it appointed at public schools to select muftis and present these people as elected muftis. And even, we have heard that accordingly the Greek Government called for resignation of the appointed-muftis in Komotini and Xanthi.

While uncertainty about this issue persists, we now are witnessing that with the intention to abolish our damaged educational autonomy the government is in the last phase of the scenario in which it took its first steps years ago. As you know our foundations are our lifeblood in terms of continuation of social, economic, cultural and religious needs of our society. Mosque, madrasah, school and other religious and educational institutions belonging to our community were carrying out their activities under supervision of our foundations. Schools in the villages and cities belong to us and they operate under our foundations. Our foundations in the villages are administered by the elected executive boards, however we cannot tell the same thing for the foundations in the cities. For some reason or other our executive boards in the cities remain to be appointed.

In the past with the income generated by our foundations, expenses of our imams and teachers serving at the mosques and schools were met. With provision of Turkish and Greek education in our schools, Greek courses were taught by the teachers assigned by the Ministry of National Education and Turkish classes were taught by our own teachers graduated from Turkish teacher training schools in Turkey. And the course books for Greek lessons were delivered by the Ministry of National Education and Turkish course books were submitted by our motherland Turkey.

Greek military junta of 1967 produced results of gradual deprivation of autonomous structure in education. Firstly, the contracts made by the school council committees for recruitment of teachers were not approved. Later on, Special Pedagogical Academy of Thessaloniki (EPATH) established and the teachers who were graduate of this Academy and paid by the Ministry of National Education were appointed to our schools. After many years, the EPATH finally closed down. And now there is the Department of Minority Education in Thessaloniki which would provide an opportunity even for the Greeks to lecture Turkish in minority schools.

While all these take place, despite that our schools are not public they are closed down on the grounds of economic saving. There has been a significant decrease in the number of our primary schools. There are no more teachers in our primary schools who were graduated from the schools in Turkey. The button is pushed for Greek teachers lecturing Turkish in the long term substituting for our EPATH graduate teachers.

Depending on our educational autonomy, our demand for so long for bilingual kindergartens was not paid attention for many years, but now in our region, a pilot implementation where an individual acquiring both languages with an assignment of translator foreseen to be appointed to Greek kindergartens is carried into action.

As you see taking into consideration the last intention for abolishment of our educational autonomy our situation is quite fatal. What should be experienced more so that we shall react potently against the intentions to abolish our educational autonomy and say "No" to the course of events?

We are an autonomous community in education and religion. Yes indeed, our autonomy in these two fields were worn down with various practices and made to be abolished in years. But this does not change the one we possess as our right. In order to achieve the one, we possess as right we need to take action. Even the conditions do not create an opportunity for us we need to stand firm against the challenges with the conscious of our rights. Therefore, we have to reiterate our faith in ourselves. To take the one we possess as right we have to rise together, and convey the message of "We are right, we will get the one we possess as right" to administrators of our country from a single mouth.

All my best regards and respect.



Halit Habip Oğlu
ABTTF President