ABTTF President: “The Committee of Ministers warns our country that it is ready to take new actions if it does not take any concrete steps by December, but no matter how much it is warned, our country does not intend to execute the ECtHR judgments in this group of cases. From now on, the Committee of Ministers should accept this fact and be clearer, more determined and tougher in the decisions and the steps it will take!”
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe examined the non-execution by Greece of the 2008 judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) regarding the associations belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace under the name of ‘Bekir-Ousta and Others Group of Cases which includes the Xanthi Turkish Union (XTU), the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association at its meeting which has held on 8-10 June 2022.
The Committee of Ministers, which has been examining the developments in this group of cases since 2008 after the ECtHR ruled that Greece had violated the freedom of association by the dissolution of the XTU and the non-registration of the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association indicated in its decision on 10 June 2022 that although more than 14 years had passed since the ECtHR judgments, the restoration of the old status could still not be achieved despite the legislative change adopted by Greece in 2017 in this group of cases. Underlining the importance of the freedom of association in a democratic state, the Committee of Ministers indicated the unconditional obligation of the respondent states under Article 46(1) of the Convention to fully and effectively execute all the judgments.
As regards the 29 June 2021 decision of the Court of Cassation to reject the application for appeal of the Xanthi Turkish Union, the Committee of Ministers expressed its regret that the Court of Cassation found its dissolution to be lawful in contradiction to the final judgment of the ECtHR. The Committee of Ministers expressed its regret that despite consultations of the secretariat of the Committee with the Greek authorities on 24-25 May 2022 as regards the execution of the ECtHR judgments in the case of the Xanthi Turkish Union, the authorities had not proposed any further measures or steps for the reinstatement of the XTU, i.e. the restoration of its legal personality.
Regarding the appeals filed by the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association before the Court of Cassation on 1 October 2021, the Committee of Ministers once again urged the authorities to take all measures at their disposal in compliance with the spirit and conclusion of the ECtHR judgments.
The Committee of Ministers decided to re-examine the Bekir-Ousta and Others Group of Cases at its meeting in December 2022 at the latest, noting that they are ready to take new actions to ensure that Greece fully and effectively complies with its obligations if no concrete progress has been made by then.
"The Committee of Ministers in the Bekir-Ousta and Others Group of Cases once again warned our country Greece. But what a remedy! As the Committee stated, more than 14 years have passed since the ECtHR judgments, but neither the way has been opened for the restoration of the legal personality of the Xanthi Turkish Union nor for the registration of our unregistered associations. We have no results! The legislative change in 2017 was a move made by our country to gain time before the Committee of Ministers, because there has been no step taken since 2017. In these three cases about our freedom of association, the Committee of Ministers has increased the tone of its warnings in face of our country’s persistent non-execution of the ECtHR judgments, but it is still trying to convince our country instead of initiating the infringement procedure in face of our country’s failure to fulfil its obligations deriving from the Treaty. In its decision, the Committee of Ministers warns our country that it is ready to take new action if it does not take any concrete steps by December, but no matter how much it is warned, our country does not intend to execute the ECHR judgments in this group. From now on, the Committee of Ministers should accept this fact and be clearer, more determined and tougher in the decisions and the steps it will take!”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
Please click below for the latest decision of Committee of Ministers with respect to the Bekir-Ousta and Others Group of Cases:
https://search.coe.int/cm/pages/result_details.aspx?objectid=0900001680a6cc94
