ABTTF attended the OSCE conference on intolerance and discrimination against Muslims

The hate crimes and hate-motivated violence targeting the Turkish minority of Western Thrace expressed at the conference

The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) participated on 19 February 2016 in the conference entitled “A Holistic Approach to Addressing Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims in the OSCE Region” that was organized by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) together with the German OSCE Chairmanship. Fatih Hafızmehmet, member of the International Affairs and Lobbying Group of ABTTF and members of the Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association (WTMUGA) Pervin Hayrullah and Onur Mustafa Ahmet represented the Turkish minority of Western Thrace at the conference held in Vienna, Austria.

Intolerance and discrimination against the Turkish minority of Western Thrace on the rise in the recent years

During the first thematic session on “Security of Muslim Communities across the OSCE Region”, Fatih Hafızmehmet took the floor and stated the activities of racist extremist organizations have reached to a worrying point in many OSCE participating States, adding the Turkish minority of Western Tharce has also become a target of the far-right extremist neo-Nazi political party of Golden Dawn in Greece. Hafızmehmet noted the sharp rise in the hate-motivated attacks on the persons, isntitutions and organizations belonging to the Turkish minority as well as on the mosques and Muslim cemeteries in Western Thrace in the recent years and referred to the attacks on the Dimetoka Muslims, Sports, Cultural and Educational Association, Mahmutağa mosque and Alankuyu masjid in the city of Komotini and the new Headquarters of the Friendship, Equality and Peace (DEB) Party which is the unique political party of the Turkish minority in 2015. Furthermore, Hafızmehmet said fully covered with masks, a group of men who introduced themselves as the “Guardians of Thrace” kidnapped on 28 January 2016 an imam who is working at the Elected Mufti Office of Xanthi and a family friend and relative of the Elected Mufti Ahmet Mete, too, forced him to get on a minibus and threatened him saying they will kill the Elected Mufti of Xanthi, attack the children of him and are following closely the movements of the Mufti Office. Hafızmehmet underlined all the perpetrators of these attacks have remained unknown and unpunished by the Greek authorities, and called therefore on the Greek government to take immediately the necessary steps to prevent in the future similar hate crimes against the Turkish minority of Western Thrace and other ethnic and religious groups living in Greece. Moreover, Hafızmehmet urged the ODIHR to organise an OSCE High Level Conference on intolerance and discrimination against Muslims. During the same session, the WTMUGA member Onur Mustafa Ahmet also took the floor and expressed the hate-motivated attacks targeting the Turkish minority of Western Thrace.

As the time provided for the first thematic session was over, the representative of the Greek delegation made use of his right to reply during the second thematic session and said hate crimes are not only in Greece, but in all parts of the world are committed, and the Greek police is trying to perform thoroughly its duty. He argued the community living in Western Thrace has a pluralistic character and tolerance rules over in the region.

During the third thematic session of the conference, the WTMUGA member Pervin Hayrullah took the floor and stated outside Western Thrace, it is not permitted by the Greek authorities to pray in the mosques in Greece and Athens is still the only European capital city without a mosque.