The court in Greece did not approve the new name of the association belonging to Western Thrace Turkish community with the word “Turkish” in its name

Halit Habip Oğlu: “Our country, Greece, which claims to be the cradle of civilization, and which is one of the old members of the European Union disregards us when the issue is about Western Thrace Turkish community”

Rhodope-Evros Provinces EPATH Graduates Teachers' Association, one of the important associations of Western Thrace Turkish community living in Greece in the field of education, held its first annual ordinary general assembly on 18 November 2017 in the province of Gümülcine (Komotini). According to the paper Gündem, the application made to the court by the executive board for changing its statute and its name was discussed as the agenda item at the meeting. After the annual assembly, the executive board of the association applied to the court for changing the its statute and its name, the local court has decided that there is no harm in changing the statute and approved amendments in the statute. However, the court did not approve the request for change the name as, “Rhodope-Evros Provinces Minority Schools Turkish Curriculum Teachers’ Association”. Members of the general assembly decided file an appeal regarding the new name of the association which was not approved by the court.

Concerning the matter Halit Habip Oğlu, the President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) explained: “Rhodope-Evros Provinces EPATH Graduates Teachers’ Association was established by teachers lecturing Turkish course at bilingual minority schools belonging to Western Thrace Turkish community, and the association has been registered and active so many years. Since the members of the association teach courses in Turkish, the association intrinsically added the word “Turkish curriculum” into its name and wanted to go for a change in the name. However, the local court did not approve the new name. Our country, Greece, which claims to be the cradle of civilization, and which is one of the old members of the European Union, disregards us when the issue is about Western Thrace Turkish community. Greece should get rid of its irrational fears and should respect the rights of Western Thrace Turks who are all Greek citizens. Only then, it would be possible to talk about real democracy and rule of law in Greece.”