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The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe strongly warned Greece with interim resolution

10.06.2021

ABTTF President: “Our country must immediately end its policy of denial against us and, as the Committee of Ministers has emphasised it, take a concrete step towards the execution of ECtHR judgments concerning our associations, proving that it fully respects the principles of democracy and the rule of law.”

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe examined the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases concerning the associations of the Turkish community in Western Thrace at its meeting on 7-9 June 2021 in Strasbourg. In an interim resolution it adopted on 9 June 2021, the Committee of Ministers criticised the failure in execution of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments concerning the Xanthi Turkish Union, the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Rodopi Province and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association for 13 years and warned the Greek authorities to ensure that the decision on the appeals made by the associations is taken by the Court of Cassation immediately.

The Committee of Ministers indicated that following the amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure in Greece in October 2017, the hearing regarding the appeal of the Xanthi Turkish Union with the request for the return of the official legal entity was held before the Court of Cassation on 16 October 2020, two years after the application, but that the decision has not yet been announced, and that the appeal hearing in the Court of Cassation with respect to the cases pertaining to the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Rodopi Province and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association was first foreseen for 18 March 2022, and then that it was decided that the hearing was brought forward and scheduled to be held on 1 October 2021, expressed its concern to the fact that the cases regarding the associations have still not been finalised.  The Committee of Ministers also noted that the national courts rejected the application of another association on the same grounds, contrary to the principles set out in the ECtHR judgments, and that this association is still not registered today, alluding to the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Xanthi Province. 

In its interim resolution, the Committee of Ministers reiterated its deep concern that the appeals of these associations have still not been fundamentally re-examined by the national courts in light of the ECtHR’s case-law, even though it has been 13 years since the ECtHR judgments regarding the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases and seven years following the first interim resolution of June 2014.

Underlining that according to Article 46 of the European Convention on Human Rights, a contracting State’ has an obligation to fully and effectively comply with the ECtHR’s judgments through the adoption of timely measures, the Committee of Ministers exhorted the Greek authorities to take immediate action to conclude the appeals of the Xanthi Turkish Union, Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Rodopi Province and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association in full and effective compliance with Article 11 of the Convention on freedom of assembly and association and the case-law of the ECtHR.

Noting that it was awaiting the decision of the Court of Cassation regarding the hearing on 16 October 2020, the Committee of Ministers decided to continue the review of Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases at its September 2021 meeting.

“The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe again issued a stern warning to our country with its second interim resolution after 2014, after our country Greece failed to take concrete steps to implement individual measures related to our associations in the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases. Calling for full compliance with the obligations arising from the European Convention on Human Rights, to which our country is a party, the Committee of Ministers made it clear that it expects the appeal of the Xanthi Turkish Union to the Court of Cassation to be concluded immediately. While some of our country’s leading politicians claim that democracy is working in our country, this latest interim resolution of the Committee of Ministers has made it clear that this is not the case. Our country must immediately end its policy of denial against us and, as the Committee of Ministers has emphasised it, take a concrete step towards the execution of ECtHR judgments concerning our associations, proving that it fully respects the principles of democracy and the rule of law”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).

Please click here for the full text of the interim resolution of the Committee of Ministers: 
https://search.coe.int/cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectID=0900001680a2c28e


 

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