ABTTF President: “Reminding our country Greece of its obligations in the field of freedom of religion and worship, we invite the Greek authorities to immediately respond positively to the applications of Western Thrace Turks living in Thessaloniki for a mosque and cemetery.”
The Western Thrace Turks living in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, are having serious difficulties in fulfilling their religious worship and burying the bodies of the deceased because Greek authorities do not allow Ottoman-era mosques to be opened for worship in the city and furthermore, there are no Muslim cemeteries.
Since the masjid under the umbrella of the Macedonia-Thrace Muslims Education and Culture Association established in 2005 by the Western Thrace Turks in Thessaloniki was closed in 2017 on the orders of the prosecutor’s office on grounds that it was “unauthorised”, they have been praying in the association’s house.
The Western Thrace Turks are forced to send the bodies of the deceased to Western Thrace for burial because there are no Muslim cemeteries in the city. Greek authorities have repeatedly rejected the association’s applications for the opening of one of the mosques for worship and cemetery in the city.
The association’s chairman Osman İsmailoğlu stated that about 8,000 Western Thrace Turks live in Thessaloniki, adding that their biggest problem is that there is no mosque and Muslim cemetery open for worship in the city. İsmailoğlu noted that although they have repeatedly applied to the Greek authorities for one of the mosques in the city to be allocated to them for worship and the opening of a Muslim cemetery, they have not received a positive response so far, and that they have not lost hope and continue to work with their existing strength as an association.
“There is still no mosque open for worship and cemetery for the thousands of Muslims living in Thessaloniki, while our country Greece continues to claim that it is the cradle of democracy. The Greek authorities have repeatedly rejected the applications of the Macedonian-Thrace Muslims Education and Culture Association for a mosque and cemetery. Meanwhile, the Greek authorities refused in the past to allow Eid prayers to be held in one of the city’s mosques, and Western Thrace Turks living in Thessaloniki had to perform Eid prayers in their association’s house. Again, as there is no Muslim cemetery in Thessaloniki, funerals have been sent to far away Western Thrace for burial for years. Reminding our country Greece of its obligations in the field of freedom of religion and worship, we invite the Greek authorities to immediately respond positively to the applications of Western Thrace Turks living in Thessaloniki for a mosque and cemetery”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
