In its oral statement at the UN, attended by all states, UN bodies and many civil society representatives in the world, ABTTF said that the Turkish community in Western Thrace is seen as a threat in its own country, and that because of this, it has been made the target of hate speech in politics and media.
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), which represents the Turkish community in Western Thrace at the UN, attended in the 52nd Regular Session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council held in Geneva on 27 February-4 April 2023.
ABTTF, which has special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, constantly expresses the issues of the Turkish community in Western Thrace at the UN Human Rights Council, which is held three times a year and attended by the representatives of all UN member states. As the voice of the Western Thrace Turks, it brings the current issues of the community to the forefront.
In this context, International Affairs Director Melek Kırmacı Arık attended the first UN Human Rights Council meeting of the year representing ABTTF. Participating in the agenda items titled UN Human Rights Bodies and Mechanisms with the session in which UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Fernand de Varennes presented his report on 23-24 March 2023, ABTTF brought up the stigma, targeting and hate-based discourses against the Turkish community in Western Thrace.
On 23 March 2023, at the UN Human Rights Council, where Fernand de Varennes, the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, participated for the last time as a special rapporteur, Varennes indicated that it was too late to take concrete steps to protect minorities, their human rights and identities. The Special Rapporteur demanded that all states put an end to neglect and inaction in the field of minority rights, demanding the preparation of a permanent forum on minority rights and a new treaty.
In its speech on 24 March 2023, ABTTF reminded that, as discussed at the UN Forum on Minority Issues in December 2022, human rights defenders cannot be stigmatised, targeted or subjected to any form of hate speech for their statements and activities to defend the rights of a minority group and it further indicated that the Turkish community in Western Thrace in Greece is perceived as a threat in politics and media.
Noting that there is systematic and structural discrimination against the Turkish community in Western Thrace in Greece, ABTTF indicated that the representatives of the Turkish community in Western Thrace were targeted due to the hate speech present in politics and the media. Criticising the stigmatisation and targeting of community representatives by some media outlets, ABTTF noted that the representatives of the Turkish community in Western Thrace were openly targeted by the publication of their photographs. Noting that there is hate speech against Turkish deputies in the Greek parliament in politics, ABTTF added that Xanthi SYRIZA Deputy Hüseyin Zeybek was threatened with death by a viewer during a local television broadcast in Xanthi.
Drawing attention to the impact of politics on discourse and language in mainstream media, ABTTF further indicated that the use of the media as a means of provocation and manipulation that may lead to hostility towards members of a certain group should be prevented.
