Francesco Zema, sports reporter from Milan, Italy, and Director of the Football, Culture and Identity Museum named ‘‘CALCI’’, visited the headquarters of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) in Witten, Germany, on 18 April 2023, after a visit he realised to Western Thrace.
Zema met with ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu within the scope of his research on autochthonous minorities and communities in Europe and the world over the theme of football.
In the meeting, Habip Oğlu touched upon the work and activities carried out by ABTTF for the solution to the issues faced by the Turkish community in Western Thrace, and noted that ABTTF, which has representative offices in Brussels and Athens, represents the Turkish community in Western Thrace before the international institutions and organisations.
Indicating that in addition to its international activities, ABTTF member associations organise social, cultural, and sportive activities for Western Thrace Turks living in Germany, Habip Oğlu gave examples with respect to the iftar dinners, family nights and 29 January National Resistance and Social Solidarity Day programmes.
Habip Oğlu, indicated that within the framework of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), of which ABTTF is also a full member, is organised a football championship of local and national minorities in Europe every four years known as ‘‘EUROPEADA’’ and in which participated youth that are members of associations within the umbrella of ABTTF and of the Xanthi Turkish Union (XTU) in its 2012 edition. Furthermore, he presented the shirt worn by the Western Thrace Turkish football team members in the championship matches to Zema to be exhibited in the museum.
At the occasion of his visit to Western Thrace on 29-30 March 2023 and within the framework of the programme realised by ABTTF, Zema had held meetings with the Elected Mufti of Komotini and Chairman of the Consultative Committee of Turkish Minority of Western Thrace (BTTADK) İbrahim Şerif, Elected Mufti of Xanthi Mustafa Trampa, Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association (WTMUGA), Xanthi Turkish Union (XTU) and Western Thrace Fenerbahçe Association.
