European Parliament (EP) elections will be held in European Union (EU) Member States on 6-9 June 2024. Voters in Greece will go to the polls and cast their votes on Sunday, 9 June. In the EP elections, the new holders of Greece’s 21 seats in the EP will be determined.
A total of 31 political parties approved by the Court of Cassation (Areios Pagos) will participate in the 2024 EP elections in Greece, and among these is the Friendship Equality Peace (FEP) Party, the political party of the Turkish community in Western Thrace. The FEP Party will participate in the EP elections for the third time after 2014 and 2019.
President of Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) Halit Habip Oğlu delivered a statement regarding the FEP Party’s participation in the 2024 EP elections: In our country Greece, the polls will be held for the EP elections on Sunday, 9 June. We will also go to the polls and support our FEP Party, which is participating in the EP elections for the third time. The FEP Party came as the first party in Rodopi and Xanthi in the last EP elections held in May 2019. Just like five years ago, everyone will acknowledge our presence and hear about our issues in these elections. Unfortunately, today, as in the past, we hear discourses that exclude and marginalise us. There will still be those who accuse us of separatism just because we are Turks and because we say we are Turks. However, all we have been doing for years is fighting to obtain the status, rights, and freedoms we had been granted. We have never betrayed our country and we never will. Because this is our country. We fought for our country and gave martyrs. However, if there is something wrong in our country, it is a requirement of democracy to say so and demand what is our right. We are not the only ones who say that some things are not right in our country. At the international level, the European Union and the Council of Europe also highlight in their reports that democracy and the rule of law are seriously threatened. The biggest tool against the deterioration of the situation in our country is undoubtedly the ballot box! Yes, if we want change, we must go to the polls and vote on 9 June. Our people living abroad will also add strength if they bring forward their annual leave this year and participate in the elections.Let’s all go to the polls in the elections and cast our vote for the FEP Party!’’.
*Image: FEP Party
