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WESTERN THRACE

ABTTF attended the conference on Greece’s policy of non-execution of ECtHR judgments organised by the Xanthi Turkish Union

13.12.2021

The Xanthi Turkish Union (XTU), the oldest association of the Turkish community in Western Thrace which was founded in 1927 but closed in 1986 by the Greek national courts on grounds of the word ‘Turkish’ in its name, held an online conference titled “Greece’s Policy of Non-Execution of ECtHR Judgments regarding the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace and Other Minorities” on 10 December 2021.

Melek Kırmacı Arık, Director of International Affairs of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), who attended the conference held at the occasion of International Human Rights Day on 10 December delivered a presentation titled “International Dimension in the Legal Struggle of the Xanthi Turkish Union”.

The violation by Greece of the freedom of association of the Turkish community in Western Thrace was discussed

XTU President Ozan Ahmetoğlu moderated the conference in which the non-execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) by Greece concerning the Turkish community in Western Thrace and the associations of the Macedonian minority living in Greece and the issues caused by it were discussed.

Along with XTU and Lawyers Ahmet Kara and İlker Çavuşoğlu whom are the legal experts of the “Bekir-Ousta and Others Group of Cases” in which are included the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Rodopi Province and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association, Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) Spokesman and Board Member of the European Implementation Network (EIN) Panayote Dimitras, Chair of the Friendship Equality and Peace (FEP) Party Çiğdem Asafoğlu, Western Chair of the Human Rights Commission of the Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association (WTMUGA) Pervin Hayrullah, ABTTF International Affairs Director Melek Kırmacı Arık, President of the Rainbow/European Free Alliance and Board Member of the House of Macedonian Civilisation Pavlos Voskopoulos Filipov and Founding Member of the Non-Profit Organisation “Krste Misirkov” Eugenia Natsoulidou attended the conference as speakers. 

XTU President Ozan Ahmetoğlu, who hosted the conference, stated that the XTU, which was closed on grounds of the word “Turkish” in its name, had been fighting legal battles for the past 38 years, noting that Greece had not executed the ECtHR judgments regarding the Bekir-Ousta and Others Group of Cases for 13 years, despite the ECtHR condemning Greece for violating its freedom of association with its decisions regarding the Western Thrace Turkish associations and also associations belonging to the Macedonian minority.

In its presentation on the international dimension of the XTU’s legal struggle and the role of ABTTF, ABTTF International Relations Director Melek Kırmacı Arık stated that despite the change in legislation in Greece in 2017, the request for the execution of the ECtHR judgment on it by Greece was not accepted. Indicating that Greece has failed the human rights test in this sense, Kırmacı Arık said that it is now the general opinion that the decisions made in this area are political, not legal, and that this is because Greece is treating the issue from a regime point of view. Stressing that the request by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to initiate a procedure for violations against Greece is significant, she added that it is necessary to go one step further in defending rights in a collective way.

*Image: www.gundemgazetesi.com

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