ABTTF President: “The Council of State, which should be independent, acted as a spokesperson for the political power by ignoring the existence of unlawful articles in the decree containing regulations on our mufti offices.”
The General Assembly of the Council of State of Greece has rejected the lawsuit brought and calling for the repeal of the Presidential Decree dated 52/2019 which would significantly limit the competencies of autonomous mufti offices which belong to the Turkish community in Western Thrace along with change their administrative structure.
According to the Gündem newspaper, in the lawsuit brought in name of former independent MP from Xanthi Ahmet Faikoğlu, it was requested that the abovementioned presidential decree which had led to a reaction from the Turkish community in Western Thrace should be repealed on the grounds that that some of its clauses were contrary to international treaties, the Greek constitution and the principle of fair trial. However, the Council of State had announced in the past days that the decree does not have a clause contrary to international treaties, the constitution and procedural law.
Halil Mustafa, lawyer from Komotini who prepared the case file submitted to the Council of State, told Gündem that the decree contains many items contrary to international treaties and procedural law and added the following: ‘The Council of State rejects our recourse on the grounds that the decree does not include clauses which are contrary to international law, constitutional provisions or the principle of fair trial. Of course, this decision is a decision made by the supreme court. However, the path to the European Court of Human Rights for the case is open’.
The presidential decree, which came into force on 11 June 2019 and consists of a total of 26 articles, administratively restructured the mufti institutions of the Turkish community in Western Thrace in Komotini, Xanthi and Didymoteicho and bound them to the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs and the competencies of the muftis were severely limited.
“The Council of State of our country Greece rejected the lawsuit which was brought calling for the repeal of the presidential decree which was directly intervening in the religious autonomy of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, thus ignoring the international treaties. The Council of State, which should be independent, has acted as a spokesperson for the political power by ignoring the existence of unlawful articles in the decree containing regulations on our mufti offices. Like the Bekir-Ousta group of cases regarding the Western Thrace Turkish associations, this case regarding the decree must be brought to the European Court of Human Rights”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
*Image: www.in.gr
