The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) presented a written statement titled ‘The limitations in civil rights granted to the Turkish community in Western Thrace, Greece’ to the 48th session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council which will be held from 13 September to 1 October 2021. In its written statement, ABTTF raised the issue of the rejection of the Greek Court of Cassation in the case of the Xanthi Turkish Union within the scope of freedom of association and the closure of 12 other primary schools belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the new school year.
Greece is persistently failing to execute the ECtHR judgments
ABTTF indicated that the Xanthi Turkish Union (XTU), the oldest association of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, which was closed due to the word ‘Turkish’, and the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Rodopi Province and Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association, whose registration applications were rejected, had applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and added that in the judgments of the ECtHR in 2007 and 2008 ruled that Greece violated Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights with respect to freedom of association.
ABTTF noted that the Greek Court of Cassation (Arios Pagos) rejected the request of the Xanthi Turkish Union, which has been engaged in legal battles for the past 38 years, to execute the ECtHR judgment with respect to the restoration of its official legal entity on 29 June 2021. Moreover, ABTTF stated that the Court of Cassation cited the participation of the executives of the Xanthi Turkish Union to panels organised by ABTTF in February and June 2021 with respect to the fact that Greece did not implement fully the ECtHR judgments as a reason for the its rejection. ABTTF further indicated that the Court of Cassation ignored the ECtHR judgments and ECtHR case law and the relevant decisions and interim resolutions of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe with its approach to the reasoned decision.
ABTTF underscored that the appeals of the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Rodopi Province and Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association will be heard on 1 October 2021, but that the Court of Cassation is not expected to take a different decision on these two associations in the Bekir Ousta and Others Group of Cases, which have been fully politicised in Greece.
The educational autonomy of the Turkish community in Western Thrace is violated
ABTTF indicated that although the Turkish community in Western Thrace has the right to establish, manage and control its own schools in accordance with the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, another 12 Turkish primary schools which have autonomous status in Western Thrace will be closed in the 2021-2022 school year due to the shortage of students. Emphasising that the decision of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs goes against the educational autonomy of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, ABTTF noted that the number of Turkish primary schools will fall from 115 in the 2020-21 school year to 103 in this school year. ABTTF called on Greece to execute ECtHR judgments concerning the Bekir Ousta and Others Group of Cases and to restore the educational autonomy of the Turkish community in Western Thrace guaranteed by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. ABTTF also asked the UN and its bodies to send a strong political message to Greece about the rights violations endured by the Turkish community in Western Thrace.
