Alivizatos: Muslim Turks are not equal citizens in Greece

Government of Turkish Republic continuously bring up the problems of Western Thrace Turkish Minority in Greece on international and national platforms. But this time, who brings up the „Turkish identity“ and „deprivation of Greek citizenship“ problems of Western Thrace Minority is not the Government of Turkish Republic but the most prestigious Professor of Law in University of Athens, Nikos Alivizatos. In his article in TA NEA, leading newspaper of Greece, he points out that Greece does not obey the minority rules specially considering Turkish minority, as an European Union member country. He emphasizes that Turkish minority members are still not equal in front of the law, specially in means of individualistic, social and political rights in spite of some constitutional reforms.

Prof. Alivizatos article in TA NEA…

Prof. Alivizatos points out that 1967- 1974 Greek military junta implementations are still applied in spite of all the warnings from European Union. As an example of such implementations, Prof. said that Turkish minority members were deprivated of their citizenship and have not got yet when they left the country only for 3 months although they paid their taxes to Greece during those months. Prof. Alivizatos also utters that usage of „Turk“ in the naming of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority associations was announced to be illegal by the Greek Supreme Court of Appeals and such an implementation is clearly contradictory to European Union principles. He also underlines that objections aganist the governor candidacy of Gülbeyaz Karahasan, member of Western Thrace Turkish Minority, was completely aganist democracy. He also states that in Christian Greece families with 3 children get salary from Government of Greek while no salary is provided for Muslim Greek families with 3 children.

Stelyo BERBERAKİS/ATHENS