ABTTF President: “While our motherland, Türkiye, has taken and continues to take many concrete steps in recent years to improve the rights of the Greek Orthodox minority, which it regards as an asset, our country, Greece, instead of resolving the problems of our minority, continues to view us as an internal threat and create new problems. On this occasion, we would like to remind Archbishop Elpidophoros that religious freedom and human rights cannot be applied selectively to a particular minority group; they are universal and apply equally to everyone.”
Istanbul-born Archbishop Elpidophoros of America made a statement on the reopening of Halki Seminary.
Stating that the issue of Halki Seminary should not be considered solely from the perspective of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Fener and Orthodoxy, Elpidophoros argued that, in a broader sense, the issue is linked to the protection of religious freedom and human rights.
Commenting on the issue, Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), stated: “With the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, the status of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace and the Greek Orthodox minority in our motherland, Türkiye, was determined, and their educational and religious autonomy was guaranteed. While our motherland, Türkiye, has taken and continues to take many concrete steps in recent years to improve the rights of the Greek Orthodox minority, which it regards as an asset, our country, Greece, instead of resolving the problems of our minority, continues to view us as an internal threat and create new problems. Our country does not recognise the muftis elected by our minority of its own free will and instead appoints muftis in violation of our religious autonomy. With Law No. 4964/2022, it has openly transformed our autonomous mufti offices into ordinary government agencies and usurped our religious autonomy. On this occasion, we would like to remind Archbishop Elpidophoros that religious freedom and human rights cannot be applied selectively to a particular minority group; they are universal and apply equally to everyone.”
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