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Habip Oğlu met with the PACE President 

25.01.2023

During the working visit held in parallel to the PACE Winter Session, ABTTF met with the PACE President Tiny Kox.

The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) paid a working visit to Strasbourg in parallel to the Ordinary Winter Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). During the working visit held on 23-24 January 2023, the ABTTF delegation, consisting of ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu and ABTTF International Affairs Director Melek Kırmacı Arık, expressed the current issues of the Turkish community in Western Thrace during their meetings with the organs of the Council of Europe and politicians.

During the two-day working visit, ABTTF met with Tiny Kox (Netherlands/UEL) in his office, who was elected as the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the second time in the elections held on 23 January 2023.

Within the scope of the meetings with politicians, ABTTF met with the Third Vice-Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media Laura Castel (UEL/Spain), Chairperson of the Turkish Delegation to PACE Ahmet Yıldız and the members of the Turkish Delegation to PACE. Furthermore, within the framework of its Strasbourg contacts, ABTTF held meetings with the Head of the Department of the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) of the Council of Europe Clare Ovey and President of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe Gerhard Ermischer. 

During the meeting with the Department of the Execution of Judgments of the ECtHR, ABTTF indicated that our country Greece, did not take any concrete steps regarding the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases and noted that a marginalising attitude was displayed against the officials of the associations representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace. 

During the talks in Strasbourg, ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu stated that the institutions and individuals representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace are targeted by otherising them in politics and media. During the meeting held with the PACE President in his office, Halit Habip Oğlu revealed examples from the recent events that made the Turkish community in Western Thrace a target in politics and media through a discourse based on marginalisation, discrimination and hatred in its own country. Habip Oğlu indicated that although Athens remains the main place to find a solution to the issues of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, the hostile attitude towards our community also hinders the demand for dialogue with the rulers of our country.

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