Halit Habip Oğlu: “We call on our country Greece to immediately implement the decisions of ECtHR regarding the associations belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace and Macedonian minority.”
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe supervised the execution of the decision of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on “House of Macedonian Civilisation” belonging to the Macedonian minority in Greece in its meeting on 3-5 December 2019 in Strasbourg, France. The Committee of Ministers decided to resume examination of this case at one of their forthcoming meetings by noting that the Greek courts have not yet considered the association’s request for registration in spite of the ECtHR decision.
The request by “House of Macedonian Civilisation” for registration had been denied by the Greek courts on the grounds of “public order” and the association had applied to the ECtHR after the exhaustion of domestic remedies. The ECtHR ruled that Greece violated Art. 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights on freedom of association in its decision dated 1998.
The Committee of Ministers, in its decision on 5 December 2019, reiterated that Greece as a contracting state to European Convention on Human Rights must comply promptly, fully and effectively with the judgments of the ECtHR by stating that the case regarding “House of Macedonian Civilisation” concerns a violation of the right to freedom of association. The Committee noted that the request of “House of Macedonian Civilisation” for registration has not been so far considered by the Greek courts. In this respect, the Committee indicated that the Greek authorities’ position that the question of individual measures should be closed, as the applicant association did not request, within the time-limit set, the reopening of its case under Article 758 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Moreover, the Committee of Ministers noted that some issues pertaining in particular to the interpretation of Article 758 of the Code of Civil Procedure are currently pending before the Court of Cassation, in this respect, it referred to “Bekir Ousta” group of cases regarding the Xanthi Turkish Union (İTB), Cultural Association of Turkish Women in the Prefecture of Rodopi, Evros Minority Youth Association belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace. The Committee of Ministers invited the Greek authorities to keep the Committee informed of any developments in Greek case-law of “House of Macedonian Civilisation” case, in particular as regards of Article 758 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Finally, the Committee decided to resume examination of this case at one of their forthcoming meetings.
Halit Habip Oğlu, President of Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) said that “in spite of the decisions of ECtHR against Greece, our country Greece still violates the freedom of association of the Turkish community in Western Thrace and Macedonian minority. Greece does not respond to the calls of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and not consider the advices of the Committee. Greece insists on not executing the decisions of the ECtHR by making up excuses. We, as ABTTF, will closely follow the cases regarding the associations belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace and Macedonian minority at both national and international level and continue to provide information about the ongoing legal process and developments before the Committee of Ministers and Greek national courts”.
You can view the decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on this matter through the link below:
https://search.coe.int/cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectID=090000168098f8b9
