President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) Halit Habip Oğlu assessed his working visit to Western Thrace on 16-17 July 2024 and the meetings he held with the President of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority Advisory Board (BTTADK) and its member institutions, organisations and individuals during the visit.
Habip Oğlu pointed out that after the success of the Friendship, Equality and Peace (FEP) Party in the European Parliament (EP) elections, verbal attacks against the Turkish community in Western Thrace, especially against the FEP Party increased and noted the following: ‘‘How come the FEP Party, which declares “I am the party of Turks” and threatens the future of the country, was able to participate in the elections! I said that I would not be surprised if, following the dissolution of the Western Thrace Fenerbahçe Culture and Sports Association, an attempt was made to dissolve the FEP Party. As a matter of fact, this is what happened. On the other hand, our MPs are also targeted because of the questions they submit to the Parliament on issues concerning our community’’.
Noting in the continuation of his statement that the real loser here is our country Greece, as a result of the democratic principes and tolerance as a requirement of democracy being ignored, Habip Oğlu added: ‘‘For this reason, as ABTTF, we were in our region on 16-17 July, we visited all our institutions, including BTTADK President and Elected Mufti of Komotini Ibrahim Şerif, and we said that we are with them and expressed our support. While stigmatisation and threats against the institutions and representatives of our community continue in our region, we have reinforced our unity and solidarity’’.
‘The events that took place in our region days before the anniversary of the death our late leader and brother Dr. Sadık Ahmet once again showed that we must continue his just struggle without giving up. It has never been and will never be easy to exist in our country with our Turkish identity and to demand our rights. But our cause will continue with all of us, with the efforts of all of us. As our brother shed light, we, the young generation after us, will continue to fight for our rights and freedoms without fear, without giving up, with determination. On this occasion, I commemorate our leader, my brother Dr. Sadık Ahmet with respect and reverence. May his soul rest in peace and his place be in heaven!’’, explained Habip Oğlu.
