ABTTF President: “In the Greece section of the U.S. 2022 International Religious Freedom Report, the issues faced by our community in the religious field are also covered superficially, as in previous years, and there are statements that mainly support the official view of the Greek state. As ABTTF, we will detail the views and demands of our community in the report we will prepare in response to the U.S. report and forward it to the relevant authorities of the U.S.’’
The 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom has been published by the United States (U.S.) Department of State. In the Greek section of the report, which examines the situation of religious freedoms in 199 countries around the world, the definition of ‘‘Muslim minority of Thrace’’ is used to cover the issues faced by the Turkish community in Western Thrace in the religious field, incompletely and superficially.
The Turkish community in Western Thrace in the report
The report states that the total population of Greece is estimated at 10.5 million, and that the population of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, which is recognised as an official minority according to the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, is approximately 140 thousand.
The report notes that according to the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, the Turkish community in Western Thrace has the right to manage and maintain their mosques, social and charitable institutions (waqf), and it further underlined that with a law which was adopted by the Greek Parliament in August 2022, the process under which the muftis are appointed by the government in (Western) Thrace has been amended. In the report, according to the aforementioned new law, a committee that will include 33 people under the chairmanship of the caretaker Mufti will decide whether the mufti candidates are suitable and determine the names of those who have the qualifications to serve as a mufti in alphabetical order, and then the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs will choose one of the candidates. It is noted that the final appointment will be made by Presidential Decree, as is the case for the Greek Orthodox metropolitans.
Reminding that the members of the Turkish community in Western Thrace continue to object to the government’s practice of appointing muftis, the report underscores that they demand that muftis be elected directly by the community without government intervention. It is noted that in (Western) Thrace there are two unofficial muftis elected by the Turkish community in Western Thrace in parallel with the three caretaker muftis appointed by the government, and it is noted that the government does not recognise the elected muftis and their religious services.
It was noted that muftis appointed by the government in (Western) Thrace with the law of 2018 demand notarised consent from all parties in family matters such as marriage, divorce, child custody, alimony or inheritance, according to traditional Islamic law, and it is further highlighted that the decision of the muftis on the mentioned issues is subject to the approval of the courts of first instance.
The report also draws attention to the fact that the Turkish community in Western Thrace opposes the appointment of the members of the administrative committees of the foundations belonging to them by the government and that they should choose these individuals in accordance with the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.
“In the Greece section of the U.S. 2022 International Religious Freedom Report, the issues faced by our community in the religious field are also covered superficially, as in previous years, and there are statements that mainly support the official view of the Greek state. As ABTTF, we will detail the views and demands of our community in the report we will prepare in response to the U.S. report and forward it to the relevant authorities of the U.S.”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
