ABTTF attended the UN Human Rights Council session on the UPR outcomes regarding Greece

The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) attended on 21 September 2016 in Geneva the session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) of the United Nations (UN) on the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism concerning Greece. During the session, the final outcomes of the second review of human rights record of Greece by the UPR Working Group on 3 May 2016 were adopted. ABTTF also made an oral statement at the said HRC session and criticized Greece of not supporting the recommendations of the UN member States with regard to the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace.

ABTTF criticized in its oral statement Greece has not accepted the recommendations with regard to the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace

Within the framework of the UPR mechanism which was established by the Human Rights Council in 2008, the second review of Greece took place on 3 May 2016. During the HRC session which was attended by Funda Reşit Taştekin, member of the ABTTF International Affairs and Lobbying Group, the outcomes of the second-cycle UPR concerning Greece were dealt with.

The Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Anna Korka made a statement during the session under the agenda item 6 “UPR Outcomes”, at which the final outcomes of the review of Sudan, Hungary and Greece were considered, and said 137 recommendations made by the UN member States during the second review on 3 May 2016 were accepted by Greece.

ABTTF took the floor and criticized the recommendations directly related to the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace have not been supported by Greece, and neither ANTTF nor any organization belonging to the Turkish minority was invited to participate in the meetings for the preparation of the second national report of Greece and then after.

During the session, ABTTF mentioned the significant problems the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace have been facing and said Greece recognizes the minority on the basis of religion but not on its ethnic Turkish identity, adding all the Turkish minority associations bearing the word “Turkish” in their tittles have been dissolved and the Greek authorities refuse to register the new ones having the Turkish titles. ABTTF stated the educational and religious autonomy of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace, which was granted by the 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty, has been destroyed, adding Greece does not recognize the Turkish minority’s right to elect its own religious leaders (Muftis) and nominates these. ABTTF criticized Greece did in no manner mention the issue of Muftis during the second-cycle review although it stated at the first-cycle review it was looking for a more transparent way to solve the problem. ABTTF also stated the Law 4115/2013 (“240 Imams Law”), which envisages the appointment of 240 Islamic religious instructors to teach Islam to the children belonging to the Turkish minority in Greek-language public primary and secondary schools and mosques in Western Thrace under the auspices of the government-appointed muftis, does not comply with the granted religious autonomy of the minority, adding this said law allows the Greek state to intervene in the religious matters of the minority, hinders it from managing and controlling its own religious institutions and exercising its religion freely therein. Lastly, ABTTF said the educational autonomy of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace has been largely destroyed, too and criticized the Greek state’s extensive control over all levels of the minority education.

The full text version of the oral statement made by ABTTF during the 33rd session of the UN Human Rights Council is available at:
https://extranet.ohchr.org/sites/hrc/HRCSessions/RegularSessions/33rdSession/Pages/OralStatement.aspx?MeetingNumber=21&MeetingDate=Wednesday,%2021%20September%202016