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Batı Trakya

The principal of Medrese-i Hayriye in Komotini was sacked!

19.09.2019

Üzeyir Ahmet was working for long time in the historical Medrese-i Hayriye in Komotini belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace which has an autonomous status in education. However, he was sacked following the decision taken by Kostandinos Bandikos, Director of Education in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Region on 13 September 2019. The decision was taken after the tension occurred in the opening ceremony of the school year in Medrese-i Hayriye when the students did not let the appointed Deputy Mufti in the school. The timing of the decision caused questions as Üzeyir Ahmet was punished by the government because of the tension in the school.  

Pursuant to the decision of Bandikos, Director of Education, İrfan Hüseyin was appointed as the school principal in Medrese-i Hayriye and replaced Üzeyir Ahmet and Markos Hristodulopulos, Deputy Principal of Komotini Celal Bayar Minority Secondary and High School was appointed as the deputy principal of the school. It is said that Markos Hristodulopulos applied for the position of principal while İrfan Hüseyin did not apply for that position. The appointment of Hüseyin is considered as a violation of the rights and regulations although he did not have an application for the position. Hence, it is concerned that the Director of Education might appoint somebody else without consultation if Hüseyin does not accept his appointment. 

On 11 September 2019, the deputy Mufti who wanted to attend the opening ceremony of school year in the religious school although he was not invited by the School Council of Medrese-i Hayriye, had called the police after he could not enter the school. Following the arrival of the police officers, Meri Kosmideu, the Director of Secondary School Education Board of Rhodopi had come to the school and asked the students to let the deputy Mufti enter the school. Upon the opposition of the students, the deputy Mufti had entered the school through a different door therefore, the students had left the ceremony and protested him by clapping. 

Halit Habip Oğlu, President of Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) said that “ pursuant to the decision of Director of Education in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Region, the timing of the dismissal of Üzeyir Ahmet, principal of Medrese-i Hayriye and the appointment of a school principal who works in another school although he did not have an application for the position make you think that there is a “purge” carried out by the state in the school. Because the decision was taken after few days when the students opposed in a democratic way the participation of the appointed deputy Mufti in the opening ceremony of the school year. In a country considered as the cradle of democracy, this appointment which was made undemocratically and in contradiction to the laws means that Üzeyir Ahmet was punished by the state itself.”