ABTTF President: “As the Turkish community, we always try to be calm and restrained against those who want to ignite the flame. But how long will our country’s rulers continue to ignore the situation in the region? Doesn’t the government realize how big the danger potential is if the similar incidents occur within the borders of Komotini, Maronia-Sapes or Iasmos in Rhodope and Avdira or Myki in Xanthi?”
Due to what happened in our country Greece in the last month after the scandal that broke out as the PASOK-KINAL President and Member of the European Parliament (EP) Nikos Androulakis and journalist Thanasis Koukakis were tapped illegally with a software called “Predator” by the National Intelligence Service (EYP), the government is going through tough times.
Furthermore, the New Democracy Party Deputy and Second Deputy Speaker of the Greek Parliament Charalampos Athanasiou said by alluding to the Turkish deputies belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace they can be wiretapped legally in cases where national security constitutes a priority. Following this scandalous statement, the Turkish community in Western Thrace has been treated in the political arena as a threat and there has also been an increase in the number of news using a discriminatory and marginalizing language against the Turkish community. Finally, on the evening of Friday, August 26 in Xanthi, a 16-year-old youth belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace was attacked by a group of about 20 people. The attackers “Nasty Turk, next time we will kill you” while hitting the Turkish youth. This last incident increased the concerns of the Turkish community in Western Thrace in terms of peace and security in the region.
Regarding the latest developments, Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), made the following statement: “We are going through a historical period in our country. In a period, like the Watergate scandal in the USA, the wiretapping scandal deepened as the Prime Minister Mitsotakis stated the wiretapping by the national intelligence service affiliated to him on the grounds of national security is legal. While the debates over possible early elections get heated up, the statements by the Prime Minister reinforced the perception the government does not trust the opposition, politicians and indirectly the people. While we are curious about the outcome of the investigation committee established in the Parliament after the letter sent by the EU Commission to the government and the government’s response to this letter, we also have reservations about the committee’s ability to access to all the facts without restrictions and share it with the public within the system upon which deep structures have influence. It seems that the dimension of this scandal is too big that the government cannot handle it. Let’s see when the government will decide to hold early elections. Following the wiretapping scandal, the general political atmosphere in the country has become tense and the statements by the deputy of the ruling party implying our Turkish deputies caused the scandal to spread to our region. The increasing pressure in politics has also increased the marginalization of our community in our region, and the policy and discourse of the government towards us that we pose a threat to the unity of the country has of course sharpened the discriminatory language in the press. It is desired to create an atmosphere of fear throughout the country over our region, which is gradually spreading. The pressure on our community is increasing as we raise our voices and demand for the solution of our problems by establishing a dialogue with our homeland Turkey as in the relations of the Greek Orthodox minority in Turkey with Athens. We are thereby consciously marginalized, portrayed as a danger and presented as an enemy within the country, both in politics and in the media. In addition to the local newspapers in the region targeting the Turkish community in Western Thrace, we are experiencing that many news portals have been established recently, and that these news portals only make news against Turkey and uses negative language against the Turkish community in our region. This situation makes us think that there is an attempt to increase provocation in our region. Because the attack against a Turkish youth in Xanthi and that the attackers shouted ‘nasty Turk’ as they were beating him indicates that we are justified in our concerns. This is very dangerous! As the Turkish community, we always try to be calm and restrained against those who want to ignite the flame. But how long will our country’s rulers continue to ignore the situation in the region? Doesn’t the government realize how big the danger potential is if the similar incidents occur within the borders of Komotini, Maronia-Sapes or Iasmos in Rhodope and Avdira or Myki in Xanthi? During these tense times in the relations between the two countries again, the government should be very careful by considering the scandal in our country’s domestic politics and possible early elections. It should produce discourse and policies that will strengthen the trust of people in the state and the power in our region and in the country in general, by using a unifying language, not a divisive one!”
