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ABTTF paid a working visit to Brussels

07.02.2023

President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) Halit Habipoğlu paid a working visit to Brussels, the headquarters of the European Union (EU), on 7 February 2023. Accompanied by Deniz Servantie from the ABTTF Brussels Office, ABTTF President held meetings with Member of the European Parliament from the Hungarian minority in Romania, and also President of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) Loránt Vincze (EPP, Romania), Jordi Solé (EFA, Spain) from the Catalan region of Spain and Cyrus Engerer (S&D, Malta). 

ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu talked about the Turkish community in Western Thrace and its issues to Jordi Solé and Cyrus Engerer, whom ABTTF met for the first time as part of the political lobbying activities carried out in Brussels. Since Jordi Solé is a member of the European Free Alliance (EFA) and that he knows the Turkish community in Western Thrace, the ABTTF President conveyed the current issues in Western Thrace, and detailed the interventions in the field of education and religion within the framework of recent developments. 

In the first meeting of 2023, held with MEP Loránt Vincze (EPP, Romania), who is the President of FUEN and knows the Turkish community in Western Thrace very well, alarming developments which took place in Western Thrace were conveyed. In this context, in his meetings with the three MEPs, Halit Habipoğlu drew attention to the hate speech targeting the Turkish community in Western Thrace in Greece. Habip Oğlu revealed examples from recent events that rendered the Turkish community in Western Thrace as a target in politics and media with a discourse based on othering, discriminating and hatred in its own country. Habip Oğlu indicated that despite the efforts of the Turkish community in Western Thrace to solve the issues, the hostile attitude towards our community is also preventing the demand for dialogue with the rulers of our country.

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