INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

ABTTF conveyed the problems after the first snap elections in Greece to the UN

14.08.2023

In its written statement submitted to the 53rd Session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UN) held in Geneva, the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) conveyed the behaviour and discourses which targeted the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the first snap elections which were held in Greece on 21 May 2023 to the agenda of the UN.
A written question to the European Commission about the issues faced by the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the field of education

06.07.2023

Members of the European Parliament (MEP) Loránt Vincze (Romania, EPP), François Alfonsi (France, Greens/EFA), Herbert Dorfmann (Italy, EPP) and Yana Toom (Estonia, Renew) submitted a written question titled ‘‘Access to quality pre-school education for children belonging to an autochthonous community in Western Thrace (Greece)’’ to the European Commission on 6 July 2023.
ABTTF paid a working visit to Strasbourg

22.06.2023

The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) paid a working visit to Strasbourg on 19-21 June 2023 in parallel with the Summer Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The ABTTF delegation, consisting of ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu and ABTTF International Relations Director Melek Kırmacı Arık, discussed the current issues of the Turkish community in Western Thrace during their meetings with PACE member deputies and the Council of Europe bodies.
ABTTF written opinion regarding the Greece section of Amnesty International’s annual report

11.05.2023

ABTTF President: “In our written opinion prepared as ABTTF, we conveyed the issues of our community and the discrimination it is exposed to and demanded that the organisation also focus on minority rights in next year’s reports. Indeed, minority rights are an integral part of human rights’’.
Western Thrace Turkish business people and cooperative representatives and Turkish supermarket chains operating in Berlin gathered together

25.04.2023

ABTTF President: “The Turkish community in Western Thrace in our region is a community based on agriculture, but due to the structural issues in our region, especially after the financial and financial crisis, migration has increased considerably. For this reason, we think that employment should be increased by enhancing production in our region.”
Visit to ABTTF from the Director of the Museum of Football, Culture and Identity in Milan

19.04.2023

Francesco Zema, sports reporter from Milan, Italy, and Director of the Football, Culture and Identity Museum named ‘‘CALCI’’, visited the headquarters of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) in Witten, Germany, on 18 April 2023, after a visit he realised to Western Thrace.
Report from ABTTF in response to the Greece Report on the U.S. Human Rights Practices Report for 2022

17.04.2023

ABTTF President: “Unfortunately, the U.S. Greece Human Rights Report gives less and less coverage to the issues of our community each year, which damages the credibility and reliability of the U.S. report. As every year, we have clearly expressed this criticism in the report we prepared as a response to the US Greece 2022 Human Rights Report. Indeed, we know that minority rights are equal to human rights’’.
Parallel report from ABTTF to the report of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs

29.03.2023

ABTTF President: “We demand from the government to establish a direct dialogue with our community on all matters concerning our community, and to adopt a genuine policy based on sincerity rather than a one-sided, imposing, and discriminatory approach towards our community. We want our parallel report on our issues with our religious autonomy to be perceived as proof of our search for dialogue with the government.”
The issues of Western Thrace Turks were on the agenda at the United Nations

24.03.2023

In its oral statement at the UN, attended by all states, UN bodies and many civil society representatives in the world, ABTTF said that the Turkish community in Western Thrace is seen as a threat in its own country, and that because of this, it has been made the target of hate speech in politics and media.
Western Thrace Turkish Delegation at OSCE

14.03.2023

At the meeting which was focusing on media freedom, ABTTF and WTMUGA indicated that political discourse and actions also shape the media and pointed out that the news targeting Western Thrace Turks and hate speech in the media have increased.

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