ABTTF President: “The report, which partially included the problems and criticisms of the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the field of religion, is of a nature of supporting our country’s official thesis as previously and has shown a biased approach. As ABTTF, we will prepare a parallel report detailing the issues of the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the religious field, their views and demands, as we do every year, and we will forward our report to the relevant authorities of the United States.”
The Department of State of the United States (US) released its 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom on 2 June 2022. In the section on Greece of the report, which examines the state of religious freedom worldwide, the definition of ‘Muslim minority in Thrace’ is used and the issues experienced by the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the field of religion are partially included.
The Turkish community in Western Thrace in the US report
In the 2021 report, which repeats the data on the population of last year, it is stated that the total population of Greece is estimated at 10.6 million, and that the population of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, which is recognised as an official minority according to the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, is about 140,000 based on the sources of the Greek government.
The report states that under the provisions of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, the Turkish community in Western Thrace has the right to administer its own social and charitable organisations (foundations), noting that with the law enacted in 1991, the government appointed three muftis with a ten-year term of office in (Western) Thrace in consultation with a committee of Muslim leaders and that their term of office could be extended. According to the current law, the appointed muftis in (Western) Thrace require a notarized consent certificate from all parties in family matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance according to traditional Islamic law, and the decision of the appointed muftis is subject to the approval of the first instance courts.
The report which indicates that the Turkish community in Western Thrace opposes the appointment of the muftis by the government and demands that they be directly elected by the Minority, does not mention the fact that the Turkish community in Western Thrace opposed the presidential decree no. 52/2019 that changed the administrative structure of the autonomous mufti institutions of Komotini, Xanthi and Didymoteicho and bound them to the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs.
As noted in last year’s report, it is indicated that according to the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, in (Western) Thrace, bilingual schools in Turkish and Greek languages are operating, moreover the 2021 report states that there are a total of 115 bilingual secular primary schools in the region in the 2020-2021 school year, and this number is 123 in the 2019-2020 period. The report notes that the demands of the representatives of the Turkish community in Western Thrace to open private bilingual secondary and high schools and kindergartens in the region continue to be ignored by the government, but it does not include the fact that the laws and practices that weaken the educational autonomy of the Turkish community in Western Thrace are not included.
‘In the section of the Greece 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, some statements from last year’s report are repeated verbatim, while the problems and criticisms of the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the field of religion are also partially included. In general terms, the report supports the official view of our country as in the previous ones and has shown a biased approach. As ABTTF, we will prepare a parallel report detailing the issues of the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the religious field, their views and demands, as we do every year, and we will forward our report to the relevant authorities of the United States’, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
Please click here for the Greece 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom:
https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/greece/
