The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) attended the 6th Annual Meeting of the Education Working Group of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), of which it is a full member which was held in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, on 9-10 April 2024. Deniz Servantie from ABTTF Brussels Office attended the meeting titled ‘‘Primary school - primary level in minority education’’ hosted by the Swedish minority in Finland.
At the meeting, ABTTF conveyed the issues faced by the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the field of education and the work carried out by international organisations regarding these issues to the representatives of other minorities in Europe who are members of FUEN.
During the first session of the meeting, which was also attended by Gösta Toft, Vice President of FUEN, and Daniel Alfreider, Vice President of FUEN and Spokesperson for the FUEN Education Working Group, Niklas Wahlström, Responsible for the Professional Education Sector at Svenska Folskolans Vanner, and Gun Oker-Blom, Former Director of the Finnish Education Agency and Education Consultant, shared the current issues of the Swedish minority in Finland in the field of education and the current situation regarding bilingual education with the minority.
In the second session of the meeting, representatives of participating FUEN member minorities delivered their presentations about the issues of the minorities they belong to in education, focusing on the primary school level.
In its presentation at this session, ABTTF conveyed the historical development of the educational autonomy of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, which is guaranteed by the treaties, and the issues related to the primary schools with autonomous status noting that between 1923 and 1967, the schools belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace were recognised by the Greek state as “Turkish schools”, but this reminding that this was later changed by the Colonels’ Junta, ABTTF noted that despite the restoration of democracy in Greece in 1974, the educational autonomy of the Turkish community has gradually eroded by various laws and practices.
Furthermore, ABTTF indicated that the Greek state denies the identity and existence of the Turkish community in Western Thrace and pointed out that the Turkish community faces discrimination at all levels in equal access to education. Noting that the curriculum at the primary school level was prepared without the approval and contribution of teachers belonging to the Turkish community, that Turkish lessons have gradually decreased in recent years, and that Turkish primary schools with autonomous status have been systematically closed down, ABTTF added that while the Turkish community had 226 primary schools in 2003, this number was reduced due to the closures made by the Greek authorities in violation of educational autonomy and it was reminded that the number dropped to 90 in the 2023-2024 school year.
Highlighting that the educational issues of the Turkish community in Western Thrace were brought to the agenda through questions for written answer and petitions before the European Parliament (EP), ABTTF called on Greece to restore the educational autonomy of the Turkish community and to end the closure of Turkish primary schools in Western Thrace.
On the second day of the event, participants visited the Mattlidens Lågstadium primary school belonging to the Swedish minority in Finland.
In the last session of the meeting, Francesca Borgonovi, OECD Head of the Skills Analysis team and honorary professor at Social Research Institute at University College of London, realised a presentation on the future of education in Swedish in 2024 and how it could be improved.
