ABTTF Vice President Nabi İbrahimcik was elected as FUEN Vice President after ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu, who served as FUEN Vice President for three terms in the Assembly of Delegates.
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace and a member of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) attended the 66th FUEN Congress which was held on between 29 September and 2 October 2022. Hosted by four autochthonous national minorities and ethnic groups in Germany, the Congress was attended by FUEN Vice President and ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu, ABTTF Vice President Nabi İbrahimcik, ABTTF Vice President Vedat Arap and ABTTF International Relations Director Melek Kırmacı Arık.
The situation of minority communities within the context of the international, regional and national conflicts was discussed at the opening day sessions at the Brandenburg State Representative Office in Berlin. In the sessions which were held with the participation of the deputies of the European Parliament, national politicians and representatives of non-governmental organisations, the main agenda topic was the Russia-Ukraine war, while the situation of national minorities in the war was discussed with the participation of minorities in Ukraine.
In the elections held in the Assembly of Delegates, ABTTF Vice President Nabi İbrahimcik was elected as the Vice President of FUEN
At the FUEN Assembly of Delegates held on Saturday, 1 October, the elections for FUEN President and FUEN Presidium were held. As a result of the elections, FUEN President Lorant Vincze was re-elected as the President of FUEN with the votes of the delegates.
Halit Habip Oğlu, President of ABTTF and current FUEN TAG Spokesperson, who served as FUEN Vice President for three terms between 2013 and 2022, did not run in the elections after three terms. As a result of the elections in which nine candidates competed for the position of FUEN Vice President, ABTTF Vice President Nabi İbrahimcik was elected as the Vice President of FUEN with the votes of the vast majority of the delegates.
FUEN Vice-Presidents Daniel Alfreider (Italian Laden minority), Bahne Bahnsen (German Frisian minority of Germany) and Gösta Toft (German minority of Denmark) were re-elected as FUEN Vice-Presidents, while Olivia Schubert (German minority of Hungary) and Bernard Gauda (German minority of Poland) were elected to the FUEN Presidium for the first time together with Nabi İbrahimcik.
The draft resolutions submitted by the Western Thrace Turks, the Turks of Rhodes, Kos and the Dodecanese Islands and the Meskhetian Turks were adopted
The Assembly of Delegates adopted the main resolution of FUEN, which conveyed FUEN’s view on the war in Ukraine and demanded the fulfilment of universal and European framework conventions and commitments in the protection of minorities.
The draft resolution submitted jointly by ABTTF, WTMUGA and the FEP Party, representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace and as the Western Thrace Turkish delegation was unanimously adopted. While the draft resolution stated that the right of the Turkish community in Western Thrace to define itself is not recognized, it was underlined that Greece had not executed the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in the Bekir-Ousta Group of Cases for more than 14 years. Despite being autonomous in the field of education and religion, Greece continues to close the primary schools belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace, and in the field of religion, it is stated that the 2019 Presidential Decree and the laws on the modernisation of the mufti offices of 2022 are attempts at completely eliminating the autonomous structure in this respect.
The draft resolution submitted by the FUEN member Rhodes, Kos and Dodecanese Turks Culture and Solidarity Association (ROISDER) in which the issues and demands of the foundations of the Rhodes, Kos and Onikiada Turks in Greece were conveyed was adopted.
Six new organisations joining the FUEN family include Krste Misirkov, a member of Greece’s Macedonian minority
Following the amendment to the FUEN statute, four new organisations at this year’s FUEN Assembly of Delegates have become associate members of FUEN, as Romanians in Hungary, Frisians in Germany, Slovenes in Italy and Montenegrins in Albania.
Furthermore, the Alsatian community in France and the Macedonian minority in Greece also joined FUEN in the category of supporting members. The non-profit organisation (NPO) ‘‘Krste Misirkov (Movement for the Promotion of the Macedonian Mother Tongue)’’ in Greece, which te ABTTF hosted on the ‘‘Facts in Our Country’’ programme on 24 February 2022, joined the FUEN family with the votes of the delegates.
Germans of Hungary will host the 2023 FUEN Congress
With the decision taken by the Assembly of Delegates, the 2023 FUEN Congress will be held in Pécs/Fünfkirchen, hosted by the German minority in Hungary.
We would like to thank ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu, who served as FUEN Vice President for three terms as the ABTTF Presidium, for his work in the FUEN Presidium, and sincerely congratulate ABTTF Vice President Nabi İbrahimcik on his election of as FUEN Vice President and wish him success in his works.
