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ABTTF attended the 2021 European Regional Forum on Minorities

14.10.2021

In its presentation at the Forum, ABTTF cited examples of structural and systematic discrimination against the Turkish community in Western Thrace in Greece.

The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace participated to the European Regional Forum on Minorities which was held online on 12-13 October 2021 under the heading of “Conflict Prevention and the Protection of the Human Rights Minorities”. 

ABTTF International Affairs Director Melek Kırmacı Arık attended the Forum which was held by the Budapest based Tom Latos Institute which is also one of the joint organisations of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) and at the initiative of United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Prof. Fernand de Varennes. 

The Turkish community in Western Thrace is being discriminated against structurally and systematically

In the opening panel which was held under the moderation of Tom Lantos Institute Director Anna-Mária Bíró, Ministry of European and International Affairs of Austria Legal Adviser Ambassador Helmut Tichy, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov, UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights Regional Representative for Central Asia Ryszard Komenda, Armands Pupols from the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief of Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section Paulo David and UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Prof. Fernand de Varennes underlined the importance of protecting the rights of minorities in order to prevent conflict in multicultural and multi-ethnic communities.

Intervening in the thematic session titled “Substantive root causes of contemporary conflicts involving minorities”, ABTTF indicated that the Turkish community in Western Thrace is perceived in Greece as a threat to national security and public order and that it is seen as motherland Turkey’s Trojan horse in Turkey and that as a result of this, the Turkish community in Western Thrace is faced with structural and systematic discrimination. Referring to the letter it sent to the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues in September 2021, ABTTF added that as a result of this systematic discrimination, the current situation in the areas of recognition of ethnic identity, freedom of association and freedom of religion or belief is getting worse.

In the second day of the Forum and in the thematic forum where the gaps in human rights mechanisms to protect minorities and prevent conflicts was addressed, FUEN President and Member of European Parliament (MEP) Loránt Vincze, Petra Roter from the University of Ljubljana, Marina Elbakidze from the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development and Sardorbek Abdukhalilov from the  Spravedlivost Human Rights Organisation assessed the gaps in human rights mechanisms, including those of the UN, the Council of Europe and the European Union (EU)  to protect minorities and prevent conflicts. The speakers noted that a general protection mechanism is lacking with respect to the protection of national minorities, noting that diversity management is needed through minority rights.

The 2021 European Regional Forum on Minority Issues ended with the reading and sharing of the recommendations regarding the thematic sessions with the participants and the closing statements of UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Prof. Fernand de Varennes. 

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