The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) attended on 8 December 2020 the online event organized by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) at which the ODIHR publication entitled “Understanding Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes - Addressing the Security Needs of Muslim Communities: A Practical Guide” was launched. ABTTF International Affairs Director Melek Kırmacı Arık attended the event organized in two sessions and where high-level speakers took part.
The event started with the opening speeches by Katarzyna Gardapkhadze, OSCE/ODIHR First Deputy Director, and Kishan Manocha, Head of the Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department of OSCE/ODIHR.
The speakers of the first session who were Commissioner for Equality of the European Commission Helena Dalli, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims Ambassador Mehmet Paçacı and United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief Ahmed Shaheed shared their views with respect to the understanding of the challenges of discrimination against Muslims in the OSCE region, international standards on intolerance towards Muslims, response to anti-Muslim hate crimes and challenges to the security of Muslim communities which are tackled in the OSCE/ODIHR practical guide.
During the second session, OSCE/ODIHR Advisor for Combatting Intolerance against Muslims Đermana Šeta, Chief Superintendent at the Finland National Police Board Enqvist Måns, Marianne Vorthoren from the Multicoloured Religions Foundation in Rotterdam and Hayri Emin from the Bulgaria Grand Mufti’s Office took part. The speakers noted the difference between rhetoric and practice in the fight against hate crimes, noting that hate crimes against Muslims in different countries in Europe feed on history, stereotypes and prejudices.
In his speech, Hayri Emin noted that Muslim communities in Bulgaria and broadly in the Balkans are settled societies, not immigrants and that for that reason, they have shared the practice of living side by side for centuries. Indicating that hate speech and crimes towards the Muslim community based in Bulgaria and in the Balkans is based on historical prejudice and stereotypes and that it is targeting the ethnic origin, Emin said that that many of the attacks are examples of hate speech on an ethnic basis with the perception of Turks stemming from Ottoman heritage and historical reference.
