The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) participated in the 3rd thematic meeting of the ‘‘Women of Minorities’’ project of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), of which it is a full member, held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, on 1-3 December 2025.
ABTTF International Relations Director Melek Kırmacı attended the conference titled “Equality in Political Participation and Representation of Minorities,” hosted by the Landesselbstverwaltung der Ungarndeutschen (LdU) of Germans in Hungary, a member of FUEN, which brought together experts, activists, politicians and minority representatives from various European countries.
The meeting began with a welcome speech by FUEN Secretary General Eva Edel Penzes. Later, as the keynote speaker, Member of the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) of the Council of Europe Prof. Dr. Tove Malloy, delivered an introductory presentation on the theme of the meeting.
Moderated by FUEN Women of Minorities Project Coordinator Dr. Zora Popova, participants spent two days discussing how women belonging to minorities can gain more visibility, influence and space in political and public life.
Intervening in the panel titled “Participation & Representation of Women of Minorities – Country Reports on Barriers and Positive Practices’’, ABTTF noted that the ethnic Turkish identity of the Turkish community in Western Thrace living in Greece is denied by the state, and that a cultural association founded by Turkish women in the prefecture of Rodopi in 2001 was not registered by the national courts on grounds of the word ‘‘Turkish’’ in its name. Noting that the association in question won its case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in 2008, ABTTF indicated that Greece has failed to execute the ECtHR judgments concerning the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases, which also includes this women’s association, for over 17 years.
Furthermore, ABTTF stated that a cultural association established in 2010 by Turkish women living in the prefecture of Xanthi was also not registered by the national courts for the same reason, and that this association also appealed to the ECtHR, which ruled unanimously in June 2025 that Greece had once again violated the freedom of association.
Pointing out that, due to systematic and structural discrimination against the Turkish community in Greece, members of the Turkish community unfortunately have a very limited role in political life, ABTTF explained that there is currently no law or policy in Greece that supports the political participation of the Turkish community.
ABTTF emphasised that hate speech in politics and the media in Greece is part of systematic and structural discrimination against the Turkish community, and reminded that the Friendship, Equality, Peace (FEP) Party, was explicitly targeted by the Greek media after the party came first in the prefectures of Rodopi and Xanthi in the 2019 and 2024 European Parliament (EP) elections.
ABTTF recommended that the general economic development of the Western Thrace region be ensured and that women be encouraged to take up leadership positions in civil society organisations and politics in order to empower women belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the public and political spheres.
