The hearing of the claim for damages filed by ABTTF against newsbreak.gr, which made defamatory and fake news about the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), was held in Athens on 16 February 2023.
ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu was present with ABTTF’s lawyer at the hearing which was held at the Court of First Instance with a Single Judge in Athens. The court is expected to announce its decision in the coming months.
On 27.10.2021, on newsbreak.gr, headquartered in Athens, an article was published about the 21st Ordinary General Assembly of the ABTTF, containing baseless accusations, titled “Provocation by ABTTF with the flag of Western Thrace in Germany”. As a result of this, ABTTF had filed a claim for damages against newsbreak.gr news site and the company that owns the site before the Court of First Instance with a Single Judge in Athens. The hearing date was set as 3 November 2022 by the court, but as a result of the request of the other party to postpone, the hearing was postponed to 16 February 2023.
“I was present in the courtroom for the hearing of the claim for damages we filed against newsbreak.gr news site, which made fake news about our Federation. We could not remain silent to the attempt to defame and discredit our Federation, which has defended the rights of our community within the framework of democratic legal rules since the day it was established. I trust our country’s justice system”, said ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu.
