At the FUEN Assembly of Delegates, ABTTF Vice President Nabi Ibraimtzik was re-elected as FUEN Vice President for the next three years.
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace, participated in the 69th annual Congress of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), held in the city of Bozen/Bulsan/Bolzano in Italy’s South Tyrol region from 23 to 26 October 2025.
Hosted by the South Tyrolean People’s Party (SVP), which represents the German and Ladin minorities in Italy, the Congress was attended by ABTTF President and TAG Spokesperson Halit Habip Oğlu, ABTTF Vice President and FUEN Vice President Nabi Ibraimtzik, and ABTTF International Relations Director Melek Kırmacı.
The Congress, attended by representatives of autochthonous national minorities, peoples and language groups from 30 different European countries, featured panel sessions discussing barriers to cross-border, access to audiovisual media in minority languages in Europe and how FUEN’s European Citizens’ Initiative known as the Minority SafePack Initiative (MSPI), addressed this issue. The host German and Ladin minorities were introduced with cultural performances.
ABTTF Vice President Nabi Ibraimtzik re-elected as FUEN Vice President
Elections for the FUEN Presidency and Vice Presidency were held at the FUEN Assembly of Delegates held within the framework of the Congress. Olivia Schubert, a member of the German minority in Hungary, was elected as the new FUEN President, while ABTTF Vice President Nabi Ibraimtzik was re-elected as FUEN Vice President.
Resolutions submitted by the Western Thrace Turks and the Turks of Rhodes, Kos and the Dodecanese Islands were adopted
The resolution jointly submitted by ABTTF, the Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association (WTMUGA) and the Friendship, Equality and Peace (FEP) Party, representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace and as the Western Thrace Turkish delegation was adopted by a majority vote.
The resolution indicated that Greece had persistently failed to execute three judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) regarding the Turkish associations in the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases for over 17 years. It noted that the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Xanthi, which was not registered in 2010 on grounds that the word ‘‘Turkish’’ in its name was misleading and could cause problems in terms of public order, won its case against Greece at the ECtHR. The FUEN resolution further records that in its unanimous judgment on 24 June 2025 in the case of ‘‘Sagir and Others’’, the ECtHR found that Greece had once again violated Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) concerning the freedom of peaceful assembly and association and called on Greece to respect the freedom of association of the Turkish community in Western Thrace and to promptly and effectively execute the ECtHR judgments concerning the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases and the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Xanthi.
A draft resolution submitted by the Rhodes, Kos and the Dodecanese Turks Culture and Solidarity Association (ROISDER), calling on Greece to allow the use of the word ‘‘Turkish’’ for all institutions and organisations of the Turkish people of the Dodecanese Islands, was also adopted by a majority vote.
Four new minority organisations joined the FUEN family
At the FUEN Assembly of Delegates, the organisations of Ukrainians in Hungary, the Roma minority in Romania, and the Saterland Frisians in Germany were accepted as full members, while the organisation of the Yenish in Germany was accepted as a supporting member of FUEN.
FUEN’s annual congresses in 2026 and 2027 will be held in Finland and Slovenia respectively
Following a decision by the Assembly of Delegates, the 70th FUEN Congress in 2026 will be hosted by the Swedish minority in Finland in Helsinki, and the 71st FUEN Congress in 2027 will be hosted by the Italian minority in Slovenia in the Istria region.
