ABTTF sent a letter to the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the Commission for the Development of Thrace, the political parties in Parliament, the relevant ministries and the Governor of the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, criticising the report, which contained limited and vague statements on how to solve issues related to the Minority, and noted further that as a result, the report was practically declared null and void.
The final report sent to Parliament by the cross-party Commission for the Development of Thrace on 7 December 2021 was discussed at the general assembly on 6 April 2022.
The Commission for the Development of Thrace was established as a cross-party commission on 16 July 2020 at the suggestion of the Prime Minister, and the final report was adopted by the commission in November 2021 after completing its work under the chairmanship of New Democracy Party (NDP) MP Dora Bakoyannis.
ABTTF participated in the public consultation process conducted by the Commission for the Development of Thrace online and asked for the creation of a development model and programme specific to the region in Western Thrace, taking into account the geographical, economic and socio-cultural structure of the region, and submitted concrete proposals and demands for regional economic development to the Commission.
After the final report was completed and discussed at the general assembly, ABTTF sent the letter containing its views on the final report to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Chair of the Commission for the Development of Thrace Dora Bakoyannis, heads of political parties represented in Parliament, relevant ministries and Christos Metios, governor of the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace.
ABTTF indicated that while the Eastern Macedonia-Thrace Strategic Development Plan is important for the presentation of the plan for the development of the region as one of the most backward regions in Europe, it would not benefit in practice because it does not include concrete proposals.
ABTTF stated that they welcomed the statement that a solution to the building problem in Minority Secondary Schools and High Schools should be found in cooperation with the local self-government in the development of structures in the field of education within the framework of the five action axes specified in the final report.
ABTTF stated that it welcomes the statement that a solution to the building issue in Minority Secondary and High Schools should be found in cooperation with the local self-government in the development of structures in the field of education within the framework of the five action axes specified in the final report, it further noted that the schools belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace, which had been granted autonomy including the right to education and the right to manage educational institutions in the mother tongue along with the Treaty of Lausanne and other bilateral treaties, are under the direct control of the state and that managing their establishment and functioning through a complex system of legal provisions weakens autonomy in education, ultimately causing structural problems in the education of the teachers, the curriculum and school books.
In addition, ABTTF indicated that in the final report the proposal for the creation of new, improved and inclusive primary and secondary schools in the mountains of Xanthi and Rodopi, providing standard education and introducing Turkish as the preferred language, would solve existing issues in consultation with the Turkish community in Western Thrace and further noted that it is a step towards destroying the Minority school system by strengthening the public school system in the region, rather than fully re-establishing the educational autonomy defined by the treaties.
In addition, ABTTF noted that the proposed opening of new kindergartens and nurseries in the region also signifies strengthening the state school system against the Minority school system because applications for the establishment of bilingual kindergartens within the minority-recognised special education system and the opening of other private bilingual kindergartens in the region have been rejected.
In response to the recommendations which were expressed within the framework of the report in the field of religion and which proposed the revision of Law No. 1920/1991, ABTTF stated that it should be noted that the right of the Minority to determine its own religious leaders, the muftis, was guaranteed by the 1913 Treaty of Athens and that Law No. 2345/1920 was adopted in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Athens and that this law was implemented until 1990, adding that the appointment of the mufti by the state violated the provisions of the Treaty of Athens and the principle of freedom of religion or belief of international law.
In addition to this law, ABTTF criticized the rejection of the application to the Council of State for the cancellation of the decree, stating that with the Presidential Decree No. 52/2019, the authorities of the offices of the muftis were completely connected to the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs and converted into ordinary public offices.
Regarding to the issue pertaining to the foundations included within the framework of the report, ABTTF duly noted that Law No. 3647 and the ‘Law on the Management and Functioning of Western Thrace Muslim Minority Foundations and Assets’ in 2008 further complicates the issue of foundations rather than solving existing issues, and further underlined that the state appointment of foundation management delegations since 1967 should be terminated.
Moreover, ABTTF criticized the fact that minority-related issues were not broadly addressed in the report and contained limited and ambiguous statements without a decisive stance on what the current issues are and how to solve them, and as a result, the report was practically declared null and void in terms of content and recommendations.
