ABTTF brought to the agenda the violation of the freedom of association of the Turkish community in Western Thrace and the investigations against its elected muftis and the targeting of its leading representatives.
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) and the Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association (WTMUGA), representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace, participated in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Human Dimension Conference organised by the 2024 OSCE Chairpersonship of Malta and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw, the capital of Poland on 30 September-11 October 2024.
The Turkish community in Western Thrace was represented by K. Engin Soyyılmaz from ABTTF and Dr. Pervin Hayrullah and Kerem Abdurahimoğlu from WTMUGA at the ten-day conference organised by the OSCE Chairpersonship of Malta with the support of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the OSCE region and the impact of current events and trends on the security of the region.
Intervening at the session on fundamental freedoms on 7 October of the conference attended by OSCE participating States, OSCE institutions, international organisations and civil society representatives, ABTTF indicated that Greece has not executed the three judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) with respect to the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases concerning the Turkish associations for more than 16 years and underscored that this situation is not only a violation of the freedom of association of the Turkish community in Western Thrace but also a clear attack on its rights and freedoms.
ABTTF also stated that after its success in the European Parliament (EP) elections on 9 June 2024, the Friendship, Equality and Peace (FEP) Party was stigmatised in politics and the media and that applications were made to the Council of State and the Court of Cassation for the dissolution of the party, claiming that it posed an alleged threat to the national security and territorial integrity of Greece.
Moreover, ABTTF called on Greece to fully and effectively execute the ECtHR judgments in the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases and to respect the right to freedom of opinion, expression and association and the right to vote and be elected of the Turkish community in Western Thrace.
Speaking on 8 October at the session on tolerance and non-discrimination, ABTTF underlined that the Turkish community in Western Thrace, whose status was determined by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, has been subjected to systematic discrimination in Greece for years and noted that when the Greek state wants to increase the pressure on the Turkish community, it resorts to financial and judicial investigations and that the leaders of the Turkish community are prosecuted on various grounds.
Citing the case against Ozan Ahmetoğlu, the president of the Xanthi Turkish Union, the oldest association of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, which was dissolved due to the word ‘‘Turkish’’ in its name, and the investigation against Mufti of Komotini Ibrahim Şerif, elected by the Western Thrace Turks, on grounds of ‘‘usurpation of office’’ despite the ECtHR’s March 2000 judgment against Greece on the same issue, ABTTF called on Greece to take result-oriented measures to eliminate discrimination and hate speech against the Turkish community in Western Thrace.
