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The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe warned once again Greece!

12.03.2021

ABTTF President: ‘As confirmed by the Committee of Ministers, our country must now stop playing for time, it should fully and urgently execute the ECtHR judgments regarding our associations in accordance with its obligations arising from the European Convention on Human Rights to which it is a party’.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe examined the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases which concern associations belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace in its meeting in Strasbourg on 9-11 March 2021. The Committee of Ministers criticised the fact that the applications by the Xanthi Turkish Union (XTU), the Cultural Association of Turkish Women in the Prefecture of Rodopi and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association, under the name of the ‘Bekir-Ousta and Others’ group of cases have still not re-examined on their merits by the Greek domestic courts in light of the Court’s case-law 13 years after the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments and also despite the amendment in the Code of Civil Procedure in Greece in 2017.

It was also noted with concern in the decision dated 11.03.2021 that following the rejection by the Thrace Court of Appeal on procedural grounds the request of the Xanthi Turkish Union for re-examination of the decision dissolving the applicant association, the appeal lodged against before the Court of Cassation was held through a hearing on 16 October 2020 but it was further indicated that the hearing took place two years following the lodging of the appeal. The Committee of Ministers thus urged the Greek authorities to take immediate action with respect to the appeal fully and effectively in compliance with Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights pertaining to the freedom of assembly and association and as well as the Court’s case-law.

The Committee of Ministers further indicated that the Cultural Association of Turkish Women in the Prefecture of Rodopi and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association appealed against the rejection of their requests to re-examine the cases by the Thrace Court of Appeal on 20 May 2020, noted that the reason behind these decisions to reject by the same court is almost identical to the reason for the decisions it gave in 2018 and urged the Greek authorities to redouble its efforts to ensure that the appeals of the two associations are swiftly concluded. The Committee of Ministers urged the Greek authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure that the hearing, which will examine the cases of the two associations, is held earlier than the date envisaged by the Court of Cassation on 18 March 2022.

Noting with deep concern that it has been reported that domestic courts in Greece have rejected similar applications, the Committee of Ministers urged the Greek authorities to redouble their efforts to raise awareness of the Court's case law before national courts.


Taking the decision to resume its examination of the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases in its meeting in June 2021, the Committee of Ministers requested from the Secretariat to prepare a draft interim resolution in the event that no tangible progress has been realised with respect to the implementation of the individual measures.

Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) made the following statement: ‘In its latest decision, the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers called on Greece to take action by the domestic courts to finalise the appeals of our associations in the cases of the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases as soon as possible. Despite the amendment in the law in 2017, the Committee of Ministers has once again made clear its deep concern that our associations' requests for a re-examination of their cases have been rejected and that ECtHR judgments have not been executed for 13 years. As confirmed by the Committee of Ministers, our country must now stop playing for time and execute the ECtHR judgments concerning our associations fully and immediately in accordance with its obligations arising from the European Convention on Human Rights to which it is a party’.

Please click here for the full text of the decision: 
https://search.coe.int/cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectID=0900001680a1ac23

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