The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) attended the 12th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on 17 and 18 September 2009. Melek Kırmacı, member of ABTTF International Affairs and Lobbying Group, represented the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace during the session which was held at the United Nations Office in Geneva.
Melek Kırmacı, member of ABTTF International Affairs and Lobbying Group, attended the session which dealed with the third agenda item entitled “the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development“. Due to the protest of the Latin American countries that the Delegation of Honduras did not represent the constitutional and legal Government of State President Manuel Zelaya during the opening of the 12th session of the UN Human Rights Council on 14 September 2009, the Council had to cancel the session. Due to the delay in the programme of work of the UN Human Rights Council’s 12th session, ABTTF could not make its speech, but submitted a written statement entitled „the Problem of Political Representation of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace“.
Minority’s political representation problem was emphasized in the written statement
Illustrating in its written statement that discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, religion, descent, nationality or ethnic origin further hinders enjoyment of national or ethnic minorities of their basic human and minority rights including economic, social and cultural rights, ABTTF presented, taking the precedence of the problem of political representation, the problems of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace with regard to the right to citizenship and former Article 19 of the Greek Citizenship Law, freedom of association and the right to education in mother tongue.
With regard to the problem of political representation, ABTTF expressed that full and effective political participation was an essential element of a peaceful and democratic society, and pointed out that persons belonging to minorities had the right to participate effectively in decisions on the national and, where appropriate, regional level concerning the minority to which they belong or the regions in which they live.
ABTTF expressed in its written statement that the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace was in-adequately represented in society’s policy and decision making system and criticized the electoral law which envisaged the nation-wide electoral threshold of 3% for independent candidates to be elected. It was stated that under the current electoral law of “reinforced proportionality”, political parties and independent candidates could not enter the Parliament unless they obtained at least 3 % of the votes throughout the country although they might have enough votes to get electoral seats in specific electoral districts. It was emphasized that the current electoral law made it impossible for members of the Turkish Minority to be elected as independent candidates to the Parliament, and the Minority was forced to run candidates with majority political parties. Moreover, the application of enlarged electoral districts was also illustrated in the written statement. It was stated that since 1994, prefects were elected, but the electoral law had merged one of the two prefectures where the Turkish Minority was densely populated, Xanthi, with neighbouring Kavala and Drama; and the other one, Rhodope, with neighbouring Evros, and thus, the possibility of a member of the Turkish Minority to be elected to such positions was inhibited.
The full text of the written statement submitted by ABTTF to the 12th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council can be retrieved here.
Please click here to read the full text of the written statement.
