ABTTF President: “With this parallel report that we submitted to the competent authorities of our country, we demand from the government to implement a real minority policy based on sincerity, acting with the understanding of ‘for our community, with our community, not ‘for our community, despite our community’, on issues and problems that concern our community.”
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) prepared a parallel report in response to the issues regarding the Turkish community in Western Thrace within the ‘‘2022 Report on Incidents Against Places of Religious Importance in Greece’’ published by the Greek Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports on 28 December 2023 and forwarded it to the competent authorities of our country.
In its parallel report, ABTTF detailed the issues faced by the Turkish community in Western Thrace, which has religious autonomy in accordance with bilateral and international treaties, on religious issues and expressed their opinions and demands. Moreover, ABTTF accounted for the situation of the mosques and places of worship in Western Thrace, as well as the religious issues of the Turkish community in Rhodes and Kos, and noted the issues faced in terms of protection of historical, architectural and cultural monuments inherited from the Ottoman period in the country, and the attacks on sacred places.
ABTTF criticized the report published by the Ministry for containing incomplete, ambiguous and sometimes incorrect statements with respect to the Turkish community in Western Thrace, and noted that the issues faced by the Turkish community in the religious field were not mentioned in the report and that their religious autonomy was ignored.
Pointing out that the 1830 Protocol, the 1881 Treaty, the 1913 Treaty of Athens and the 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty, which guaranteed the status and rights of the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the religious field, were not mentioned in the report published by the Ministry, ABTTF explained that with the law adopted in 1991, the muftis were appointed by the state in Komotini, Xanthi and Didymoteicho. Furthermore, it was indicated that nowadays, there persists a dual structure as follows: appointed muftis, who are not accepted by the community, and muftis elected by the community. ABTTF noted that the report published by the Ministry did not mention the relevant judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, in which our country was convicted for violating the religious freedom of the Turkish community in Western Thrace.
Highlighting that Law No. 4964/2022 titled ‘‘Modernisation of Mufti Offices in Thrace’’ was adopted in the Greek Parliament despite all the objections of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, ABTTF stated that with the aforementioned law, the mufti offices belonging to the Turkish community will be completely linked to the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports and that it was further underlined that there is thus an attempt to completely eliminate their autonomous structures.
ABTTF criticised Law No. 4115/2013, which foresees the appointment of 240 Islamic religious teachers to teach Islam in Greek to children from the Turkish community in primary and secondary public schools and mosques in Western Thrace, under the auspices of appointed muftis, and which the Turkish community has opposed since the first day. It was noted that this practice, which was presented positively by the government, was a clear intervention in the religious autonomy of the Turkish community and allowed state control over religion.
Moreover, ABTTF noted that the claim that the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports met all the demands for the repair and renovation of old mosques and the construction of new mosques in Western Thrace does not reflect the truth, adding that there is no new mosque construction in Western Thrace today, there are applications awaiting approval for construction permits, and that that no progress has been made in the restoration of the Didymoteicho Çelebi Sultan Mehmet Mosque which had been damaged in fire.
ABTTF underscored that the office of the mufti in Rhodes has been closed since 1974, and that the management of the foundations belonging to the Turkish community in Rhodes and Kos are guaranteed by appointment, as in Western Thrace, and that there are serious issues in the restoration and preservation of mosques and other historical architectural works inherited from the Ottoman period on the islands.
Regarding the attacks on religious holy sites, ABTTF criticised the fact that the Ottoman-era Muslim Turkish cemetery in the village of Petinos (Horozlu) in the prefecture of Xanthi which was destroyed by construction machinery belonging to the Municipality of Avdira (Bulustra) on 15 and 16 March 2022 due to the intention to build football and basketball courts, a children’s park, and a social facility has not yet been restored.
In its parallel report, ABTTF demanded that the educational and religious autonomy of the Turkish community in Western Thrace be restored, the muftis chosen by the government be recognised, and the historical mosques inherited from the Ottoman Empire in our country be restored in accordance with their original and opened for worship, considering the needs of the Turkish and Muslim population in the regions where they are located.
“Unfortunately, during the preparation of this year’s report of the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, our community was not consulted on issues concerning it, and the official state thesis was repeated with a unilateral and discriminatory approach. We firmly reject the Laws on the ‘Modernisation of Mufti Offices in Thrace’ and ‘240 Imams’, which aim to completely eliminate the religious autonomy of our community, which are portrayed as being positive steps. While there is no interference in the structure and internal functioning of the communities belonging to other recognised religions in our country, the interventions of the government targeting the religious autonomy and freedom of our community at every opportunity are unacceptable. With this parallel report that we submitted to the competent authorities of our country, we demand from the government to implement a real minority policy based on sincerity, acting with the understanding of ‘for our community, with our community, not ‘for our community, despite our community’, on issues and problems that concern our community”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
