ABTTF President: ‘Our country can be seen as a ship and everyone living in this country are those pursuing their lives in the same ship. If there is a crack at any point in the ship, if it is broken, the whole ship will sink over time’.
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) submitted to the the Inter-Party Parliamentary Committee for the Development of Thrace its proposals regarding economic development in Western Thrace in the areas of agriculture, livestock, industry, tourism and regional administration.
ABTTF which took part in the public consultation process ongoing until 31 October 2020 of the Committee for the Development of Thrace which was set up under the proposal of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on 16 July 2020 through the link https://epitropithrakis.gov.gr/i-epitropi/, requested for the preparation of a special development model and programme for the region by taking into consideration the geographic, economic and socio-cultural structure of the region and conveyed its concrete proposals and requests to the Committee with respect to regional economic development. Giving the example of Italy’s South Tyrol Region which implements a regional development model by promoting different business types and making alternative production and investments, ABTTF proposed for the examination of the development model and programme of South Tyrol.
Indicating that as a country which have lived for years through the hardships of life brought by the economic and financial crisis and adding that just as in all of the countries of the world that they are struggling with extra other difficulties end economic recession brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, ABTTF requested that the Turkish community in Western Thrace should be considered in all the steps aimed at the economic development of the region in these difficult conditions. Explaining that for many years there has not been a balanced development in Western Thrace for various reasons because of having ignored the general and special needs and that this constitutes a priority condition for equal and balanced development, ABTTF said that otherwise, it would not be possible to achieve a balanced development in the long term.
Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) made the following statement: “As ABTTF, we have sent our concrete proposals to the Committee as regards regional development in Western Thrace. We had sent in the beginning of September our letter to Committee President Dora Bakoyannis and Committee members where we were expressing our readiness to contribute in every way with all our good will. We did not have any response to this letter and we realised that the letter we had sent to the Committee was leaked to the press through a news we saw in the Greek press and as ABTTF we have become the target of the far-right press. A few days ago, the press release we made regarding statements made by ruling-party MP Evripidis Stilyanidis at a speech he made at the committee regarding the Turkish community in Western Thrace implied as a risk of ‘threat’ was reported at the far-right press and we were accused of targeting Stilyanidis. On the contrary, as ABTTF, we have acted from the beginning with the hope that the Committee for the Development of Thrace will be a platform based on goodwill and sincerity and we have made this clear in our letters and proposals addressed to the Committee. We have made this view clear to the Committee: ‘Our country can be seen as a ship and everyone living in this country are those pursuing their lives in the same ship. If there is a crack at any point in the ship, if it is broken, the whole ship will sink over time’. At this point, instead of statements that exclude the Turkish community in Western Thrace and portray it as a threat, we should present concrete proposals to the Committee as people of the region and strive together for the development of the region. Otherwise, if the discriminatory mindset towards the Turkish community in Western Thrace dominates the work of the Committee, the committee’s report will then unfortunately be null and void in terms of result for Western Thrace Turks’.
