ABTTF President: “In general, state authorities have been voicing the claim that there are no ‘‘Turks’’ in our country for years. The people of our country have been so brainwashed by the discourse in politics and media that denies our Turkish identity that even non-governmental organisations have come to the point of denying our existence’’.
The Komotini Greek Mountaineering Association described the village residents as ‘‘Greek Pomaks’’ in a post on the association’s social media account about their trip last weekend in the village area of Linos (Kozlardere) where Western Thrace Turks live.
Mehmet Arif, Independent Councillor of the Municipality of Iasmos (Yassıköy) in the Prefecture of Rodopi, reacted to the mountaineering association’s post with respect to the identity of the Western Thrace Turks living in his village of Linos (Kozlardere). In his statement, Arif indicated the following: ‘‘As Greek citizens of Western Thrace, these and similar situations are unacceptable within the framework of our democratic rights. No one should doubt that those who try to cause turmoil among the community and give an artificial image to our Minority by putting forward our centuries-old deep-rooted history, peaceful lifestyle and loyalty characteristics will fail again in the end’’.
“We condemn the provocative post of the Greek Mountaineering Association in Komotini that distorts the facts. The post made by the association is a new example of the spread of provocative, untrue and hate-based statements targeting the Turkish community in Western Thrace, which we have frequently encountered in politics and media in our country recently, to the general public. In general, state authorities have been voicing the claim that there are no ‘Turks’ in our country for years. The people of our country have been brainwashed to such an extent by the discourse in politics and media that denies our Turkish identity that even non-governmental organisations have come to the point of denying our existence. You cannot ascribe another identity to those who say, ‘I am a Turk’ and those who define themselves as ‘Turks’. Where else in the world does such a situation exist besides our country?”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
*Image: www.birlikgazetesi.org
