Conveying the latest developments in Western Thrace, ABTTF President brought to the agenda the closure of the Fenerbahçe Association and the portrayal of the success of the FEP Party in the EP elections as a threat to the national integrity of the Turkish community.
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) paid a working visit to Strasbourg on 25-26 June 2024, in parallel with the Summer Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
During the working visit where ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu was accompanied by ABTTF International Relations Director Melek Kırmacı, Habip Oğlu expressed the current issues of the Turkish community in Western Thrace during his meetings with the PACE members.
Within the framework of his contacts in Strasbourg, Habip Oğlu focused on meetings with the representatives of our motherland Republic of Türkiye in PACE and informed the Turkish DelPACE Turkish Delegation about the important developments in Western Thrace. In this context, Habip Oğlu held meetings at different times with Chairperson of the PACE Turkish Delegation and AK Party MP Yıldırım Tuğrul Türkeş, and AK Party MPs Mustafa Canbey and Meryem Göka; CHP MPs Namık Tan, Yunus Emre, Gökçe Gökçen and Aysu Bankoğlu; MHP MPs Konur Alp Koçak and Pelin Yılık and İYİ Party MP Mehmet Akalın.
During the meetings, Habip Oğlu shared the latest developments on the Bekir-Ousta group of cases regarding the violation of the freedom of association of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, which has been pending for 16 years to be executed, he further revealed the decision of the Committee of Ministers on 11-13 June and indicated that Greece is following a strategy to prolong the process by not executing the ECtHR judgments. Habip Oğlu underscored that the closure of the Western Thrace Fenerbahçe Culture and Sports Association by the court is another violation of the freedom of association and added that similar violations will continue to occur unless the judgments with respect to the Bekir-Ousta group of cases are executed.
Moreover, Habip Oğlu also stated that the recent EP elections and the votes casted to the Friendship, Equality and Peace (FEP) Party, the political party of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, are proof of the existence of the Turkish community in Western Thrace. Regarding the assessment of the electoral success of the FEP Party in politics and media in Greece, Habip Oğlu said that the Turkish community is portrayed as a threat to the national integrity. Habip Oğlu underlined that Greece denies the existence and identity of the Turkish community in Western Thrace and continues to marginalise it with hate speech in politics and mainstream media.
