ABTTF Başkanı: “As ABTTF, the representative body of the Western Thrace Turks living in Europe, we strongly condemn the court’s unjust prison sentence handed down to four representatives of our minority; we extend our best wishes to them and want them to know that we stand by them at all times”.
On 11 October 2024, the then appointed muftis of Komotini, Xanthi, and Didymoteicho, staged a provocation during Friday prayers at Çınar Mosque in Xanthi; the trial regarding the case filed against four representatives of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace who rightfully reacted to this provocation was held on Thursday, 18 June, at the Xanthi Courthouse.
The defendants—Hüseyin Baltacı, then-president of the Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association; Ozan Ahmetoğlu, then-president of the Xanthi Turkish Union; Bahri Belço, Vice-President of the FEP Party; and Murat Köse, Chairman of the Çınar Mosque Board of Trustees—were each sentenced to 17 months in prison, the court ruled that the sentences be suspended and converted to fines. The court’s written ruling is expected to be announced in the coming days.
The hearing, which began at 9:00 a.m. and lasted 14 hours until 11:00 p.m., was attended by the elected muftis of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace, members of Parliament, mayors, representatives of institutions and organisations, bar association representatives and legal professionals from Türkiye, as well as a large number of Western Thrace Turks, who showed their support for the defendants.
“As ABTTF, the representative body of the Western Thrace Turks living in Europe, we strongly condemn the court’s unjust prison sentence handed down to four representatives of our minority; we extend our best wishes to them and want them to know that we stand by them at all times. This case is directly linked to the religious autonomy, religious freedom, and the mufti issue of our Minority, which were defined and guaranteed by the 1913 Treaty of Athens and the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. While the state does not interfere in the internal affairs of other known religious communities in our country, it has, in violation of our Minority’s religious autonomy, deprived us of our right to appoint our own muftis through a law enacted in 1991, and has appointed muftis and deputy muftis for Komotini, Xanthi, and Didymoteicho. These four friends of ours, who are now on trial, stood up against the planned provocations of these mufti deputies appointed by the Greek state and voiced their support for the mufti of Xanthi, whom our Minority had elected. Therefore, the court’s decision is, in fact, a ruling that targets our Minority’s religious autonomy and the muftis it has freely elected”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
*Image: www.gundemgazetesi.com
