Dear readers,
In the war that started with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Prime Minister of our country, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the President of our motherland, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, met in Istanbul in March.
In this bilateral meeting, our country and our motherland also discussed the issues related to Turkish-Greek relations, stating that the increase in cooperation between the two countries would provide mutual and regional benefits and that they wished to improve bilateral relations despite the disagreements between the parties.
This meeting made us Western Thrace Turks very happy, and we hope that the improvement of bilateral relations would reflect positively on the steps to be taken by our country in solving the issues of our community.
However, less than three months later, the waters between our country and our homeland in the Aegean Sea have warmed up again and diplomatic relations have been strained.
I hope that the waters will calm down as soon as possible and steps will be taken to improve relations between our country and our motherland.
The Greeks of Istanbul and we, Western Thrace Turks, are bridge builders and cultural ambassadors between the two countries.
Yes, you heard it correct, we are cultural ambassadors.
Metropolitan of Xanthi Panteleimon paid a visit to Imbros (Gökçeada) in our motherland and undertook the repair of one of the abandoned churches on the island, an example of a step taken to protect the cultural heritage of the Greeks in the lands belonging to our motherland.
The fact that our motherland welcomes this step from our country to protect its cultural heritage is an example of tolerance.
Unfortunately, our country does not have the same tolerance for the protection of the cultural heritage of the Ottoman Empire.
Most of the historical mosques left over from the Ottoman Empire were demolished, let alone restored.
Our country does not restore itself, nor does it reject restoration offers from our motherland.
The same situation occurred with the renovation and restoration of the Didymoteicho Mosque, which burned down in 2017.
As such, the cultural heritage of the Ottoman Empire is melting day by day, and our country allows it.
In the latest tension between our country and our motherland, the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Treaty of Paris were frequently mentioned.
With the Lausanne, we and the Greek Orthodox in Istanbul, Imbros (Gökçeada) and Tenedos (Bozcaada) were guaranteed educational and religious autonomy.
When the Dodecanese Islands were transferred to Greece with the Treaty of Paris, the tripartite system consisting of communities, charitable foundations and muftis applied during the Italian administration was pursued and the educational and religious autonomy of the Turkish community in the Dodecanese Islands was preserved.
But as we are now in 2022, there is not a single Turkish primary school in Rhodes and Kos today!
Until 1972, however, the Turks in Rhodes and Kos had their own schools.
While there are many mosques on the islands, today only the Ibrahim Pasha Mosque is open for worship in Rhodes, and that is not for the five daily prayers!
In Kos, after the 2017 earthquake, there were no mosques open for worship.
When the islands were transferred to Greece, the office of the mufti was guaranteed, while in Rhodes the mufti served until 1974.
When the Mufti died, no more Mufti elections were held.
The situation in Western Thrace took place in a similar way.
The number of our primary schools decreased every year, and the number of our primary schools which were closed due to the lack of students within the scope of the economic measures taken in 2010 increased rapidly.
Today we have only 103 primary schools.
Our muftis started to be appointed by the state after 1990.
The renovation and restoration of our mosques inherited from the Ottoman Empire is being prevented or the mosques are being used for other purposes.
In 1983, our associations were dissolved because of the word ‘Turkish’ in their names and today it is not possible to establish an association with the word ‘Turkish’ in its name.
This issue has been brought before the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled against Greece, but our country has not executed these judgments for the past 14 years.
What should we say when we look at all this?
In our country, the concepts of right and law seem to apply only to the majority.
When it comes to the Western Thrace Turks or the Turks of Rhodes and Kos, it is not possible to talk about rights and laws!
When it comes to us in our country, we know why the right and the law do not work!
The interesting thing is that Western countries that claim to be defenders of democracy and human rights display the same callous attitude towards us.
Why do you think?
As I end these lines, I wish everyone who will be on leave due to the upcoming summer holiday a good holiday in advance!
Yours sincerely,
Halit Habip Oğlu
ABTTF President
