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Communication from the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe about Bekir Ousta to the Committee of Ministers

02.09.2021

ABTTF President: ‘The communication of the Conference of INGOs to the Committee of Ministers shows that it is understood and observed by all related circles that the freedom of association of our community has been taken away and that there is a need for action in order to address this injustice’. 

Ahead of the meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe which will observe on 14-16 September 2021 the Bekir Ousta and Others group of cases which comprises the associations of the Turkish community in Western Thrace such as the Xanthi Turkish Union, the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Rodopi Province and Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association, the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe sent a communication to the Committee of Ministers with respect to the non-execution by Greece of ECtHR judgments as regards the abovementioned cases. 

In its communication dated 24 August 2021, the Expert Council on NGO Law of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe criticised the negative development of the Greek Court of Cassation’s rejection of the appeal of the Xanthi Turkish Union, indicating that the Court of Cassation had ignored the ECtHR judgment, which rejected the claim that the purpose and activities of the Xanthi Turkish Union were incompatible with the democratic principles. The Expert Council further indicated that the decision of the Court of Cassation disregards the interim resolutions adopted by the Committee of Ministers in 2014 and 2021 and that when one observes the allegations within the reasoned decision of the Court of Cassation, it appears that the Court of Cassation completely misunderstood Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights as regards freedom of association. 

In addition, the Experts Council criticised the fact that a new and fresh opportunity has not been caught as regards the registration of the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Rodopi Province and Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association in Greece ten months after the communication they had sent with respect to the non-execution of ECtHR judgments on these two associations.

The Experts Council called upon the Committee of Ministers to request from Greece to end the current impasse in the case of Bekir Ousta and Others group of cases. The Experts Council demanded that the Committee of Ministers call on Greece to review the decision to close the Xanthi Turkish Union in line with the ECtHR’s judgment on the Xanthi Turkish Union and ECHR case law. The Experts Council , which also wants to train judges in Greece on the case law called upon the Committee of Ministers to maintain this group of cases on the agenda at every meeting so that it conducts a rigorous review process for the case group.

Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) made the following statement: ‘Prior to the review of the Committee of Ministers on 14-16 September 2021, the representatives of the group of cases along with ABTTF and the Greek Helsinki Monitor reported the latest developments as regards the Bekir Ousta and Others group of cases to the Committee of Ministers through the letters they wrote to them. We consider it very important that the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe sends a communication to the Committee of Ministers in response to the process. Indeed, the fact that a communication from the Conference of INGOs as regards the Bekir Ousta and Others group of cases has been sent to the Committee of Ministers, which will examine 45 separate cases in the next review, increases the interest in this group of cases, and also shows that the usurpation of the right of our community to form associations has been observed and understood and that there is a need to intervene to remedy this injustice’.

Click here for the communication sent by the Conference of INGOs to the Committee of Ministers: https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680a39776 

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