ABTTF President: “Minister of Education Zacharaki claims that our country, Greece, is transforming its education system quickly and reliably, but it’s clear that the Minister is ignoring us once again. We were granted autonomy in education under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, but this autonomy has been largely eroded due to the state’s interventions over the years. Unfortunately, the state’s long-term policy aims not to strengthen but to weaken our school system.”
Greece’s Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sport Sofia Zacharaki highlighted the importance of lifelong learning in education whilst presenting Greece’s transformation strategy in the fields of education and skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Skills Summit, held in Istanbul on 27–28 April 2026.
Highlighting reforms such as the strengthening of basic skills, the integration of artificial intelligence and digital literacy into the curriculum, and the development of vocational education and lifelong learning policies, Zacharaki indicated that skills development would be supported through international cooperation, teacher training and the use of European tools.
Zacharaki, who also visited the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Fener in Istanbul and was received by Patriarch Bartholomew, provided information on the government’s new regulations regarding clergy abroad and steps taken to support Greek-language education.
“Minister of Education Zacharaki claims that our country, Greece, is transforming its education system quickly and reliably, but it’s clear that the Minister is ignoring us once again. We were granted autonomy in education under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, but this autonomy has been largely eroded due to the state’s interventions over the years. Unfortunately, the state’s long-term policy aims not to strengthen but to weaken our school system. Despite constituting the majority of the population in the Prefecture of Komotini and nearly half of the population in the Prefecture of Xanthi, our demand for bilingual Turkish-Greek minority kindergartens has been ignored for years, and our children are being deprived of the right to learn their mother tongue, Turkish, before starting school. Contrary to our educational autonomy, private and autonomous Turkish primary schools in Western Thrace are being closed one by one under the pretext of insufficient number of pupils. Our request for a modern new building for the Xanthi Turkish Minority Secondary and High School remains unmet, and pupils are forced to continue their education in the school’s old and inadequate existing building. These examples clearly demonstrate the double standards and discrimination applied by our country towards the Western Thrace Turks in formal education and access to quality education’’, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
*Image: www.anadoluimages.com
