ABTTF President: “I would like to ask our former president: Does our country, which wants to establish full control and supervision over our muftis with the law adopted by the parliament in July 2022, fully comply with the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne, which guarantees our religious autonomy? Is it our country, which has not executed the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights as regards the Xanthi Turkish Union, the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi, and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association for more than 14 years despite all the warnings of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and which disregards international law, that fully complies with the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne on freedom of association?’’
In a speech he realised at an event on 16 October 2022, Former Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos indicated that (Western) Thrace is a representative example of the attitude of Greece and Turkey regarding the implementation of the Treaty of Lausanne, especially with regard to the minorities, as it is internationally accepted, and asserted that Greece fully complies with the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne, especially the status of the muftis and freedom of association.
Pavlopoulos also claimed that according to the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne, the Muslims in (Western) Thrace are purely a ‘‘Muslim minority’’ and the Greeks in Istanbul are completely an ‘‘ethnic minority’’.
“The former president of our country Pavlopoulos has once again deliberately distorted the facts about the Treaty of Lausanne and the Turkish community in Western Thrace and has once again denied our Turkish identity. I would like to ask our former president: Does our country, which wants to establish full control and supervision over our muftis with the law adopted by the parliament in July 2022, fully comply with the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne, which guarantees our religious autonomy? Is it our country, which has not executed the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights as regards the Xanthi Turkish Union, the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi, and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association for more than 14 years despite all the warnings of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and which disregards international law, that fully complies with the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne on freedom of association? While all these facts are clear, our former president also claims that according to the Treaty of Lausanne, there is a Muslim minority in Western Thrace and an ethnic Greek minority in Istanbul. As Pavlopoulos, himself a jurist, knows very well, the Treaty of Lausanne only defines ‘‘non-Muslim minorities’’. We invite the former and current rulers of our country to act sincerely in solving the issues of our community. Populist statements that blatantly distort the facts will benefit no one”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
*Image: www.anadoluimages.com
