ABTTF President: “We would like to point out that we strongly reject the final report of the commission, which does not consider the rightful demands of our community, consists only of empty promises rather than concrete proposals for the development of the region and clearly serves a different purpose.”
The final report of the Commission for the Development of Thrace, established in Parliament in July 2020 at the request of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, fell short of the expectations of the Turkish community in Western Thrace. The report, which was adopted only by the votes of lawmakers from the ruling New Democracy (ND) Party, did not include the opinions and demands of institutions and organisations representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace.
The report claims that the Turkish community in Western Thrace consists of three different ethnic identities and that Greece fully complies with the provisions of the Lausanne Peace Treaty and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
The report proposes the opening of new public schools in the areas where members of the Turkish community in Western Thrace live and the inclusion of Turkish in the curriculum as an elective course in these schools, and it is envisaged that the muftis which represent the religious leaders of the Turkish community in Western Thrace are to be selected by a “Board of Representatives” and that the candidates determined by the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs will be appointed.
“As we have stated it before, the final report of the Commission for the Development of Thrace was prepared with a mentality of a ‘Trojan horse’ against the Turkish community in Western Thrace and includes a content that is not worthy of the name of the commission. The report, which does not contain concrete and new proposals for the development of Western Thrace repeats the empty promises of previous governments regarding the region which have never been fulfilled. Furthermore, there is absolutely no budget and timeline for the implementation of the proposals and projects mentioned in the report and there is no reference to an official authority to oversee their implementation. Another point that has caught our attention is that the report does not include specific recommendations to prevent migration for economic reasons, which is one of the most important issues of our community in recent years, and with this it promotes demographic change against our community in the region. On the other hand, far from addressing the chronic issues of our community that have been awaiting a solution for years, the report aims to eliminate our educational and religious autonomy which is guaranteed by bilateral and international treaties with the proposals expressed on our schools and our muftis. We would like to point out that we strongly reject the final report of the commission, which does not consider the rightful demands of our community, consists only of empty promises rather than concrete proposals for the development of the region and clearly serves a different purpose”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
