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US State Department released International Religious Freedom Report

31.05.2018
In the section on Greece, official thesis of the Greek state on problems of Western Thrace Turkish community is repeated

The International Religious Freedom Report which has been published for 20 years by the State Department of the United State of America was released for the year 2017.

In the section on Greece, problems of Western Thrace Turks were covered partially with the statement “Muslim minority in Thrace” and official thesis of the Greek state regarding Western Thrace Turks is repeated.

Western Thrace Turks in the report on Greece

In the report, in which 200 countries are examined, the section on Greece referred to the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and noted that population of Muslim minority recognized by 1923 Lausanne Treaty is about 100-120 thousand.

In the report, it is mentioned that the Muslim minority has the right to maintain its mosques and social and charitable organizations(waqfs). The report further noted that he muftis appointed by the government are allowed to apply the sharia law in the field of family law. Besides, it is also noted that appointed muftis assign muftis at the mosques. In the report it is stated that salaries of Greek Orthodox priests and muftis and imams appointed by the state in Thrace are paid by the Greek government, however, these people are not state officials.

Concerning religious education, it is mentioned in the report that there is optional Islamic religious instruction in state schools for the Muslim minority in Thrace. It is further noted that Muslim children in the region are provided for excused absences in state schools for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. It is also noted in the report that Islamic instruction are taught in state schools twice weekly.

The report mentions that the law established 0.5 % quota for Muslim minority in entrance to the universities and civil service and also 2% quota in entrance to fire brigade school and academy. Nonetheless, it is highlighted in the report that the Muslims who are not part of the recognized Muslim minority in Thrace with the Lausanne Treaty do not benefit from bilingual education, special quotas for university and civil service position, optional use of sharia and optional Islamic instruction at state schools, because they are not covered by the treaty.

In the U.S. report which dominantly reflects the official position of the Greek government, it is conveyed that Western Thrace Turkish community continues to appoint the muftis due to their judicial powers and further noted that some members of Western Thrace Turkish community oppose to this and ask for election of muftis.

As a recent development, it is noted in the report that the prime minister announced the government’s plans to make the use of sharia in Thrace optional with a law which was later adopted in the parliament in January 2018. This law which grants right to Western Thrace Turkish community members to make a preference between Greek courts and muftiships in the field of family and inheritance law, and which restricts sharia powers of the muftis was adopted in January despite all objections by Western Thrace Turkish community. Furthermore, it is noted in the report that a working group on the upgrading and modernization of the muftiates(appointed) in Thrace was established by the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs on 28 March 2017. Moreover, it is noted the working group has been assigned to prepare a report on improvement of functioning of muftiates.

Concerning the education of Western Thrace Turkish community, it is noted that leaders of the Muslim minority asked for bilingual kindergartens in Turkish school system and added that the governmental authorities claimed that kindergartens in Greek language are better integrate into the Greek society. Furthermore, the report stressed that the Government claimed that the Lausanne Treaty did not mention kindergarten classes. The report added that the Institute for Educational Policy announced a pilot project for employment assistant teachers who will work as translators in kindergarten classes in six state schools in the region.

Halit Habip Oğlu, President of Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe said “In the section on Greece of the US International Religious Freedom Report the problems of Western Thrace Turkish community is covered partially and we see that official view of the Greek government is dominantly mentioned in the report. While the problems regarding muftis and bilingual minority kindergartens are mentioned in the report to a lesser extent, criticisms of the Western Thrace Turkish community about 240 Imams Law which envisages appointment of religious instructors at state schools under the jurisdiction of appointed muftis are, unfortunately, not mentioned in the report. Nevertheless, the report did not say anything about intimidation and deterrence against elected muftis and lawsuits filed with the charge of usurping the office of the mufti. As ABTTF, as it is every year, we will prepare a parallel report in which we will convey problems of Western Thrace Turkish community in detail and raise its demands.”

You may access the part on Greece in the US International Religious Freedom Report on the link https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm#wrapper
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