Halit Habip Oğlu: “The main purpose of all these obstacles is to pretend that there is no Turkish presence in Western Thrace, that is, to try to turn this into reality by creating a perception based on denial.”
In the analysis published on the website of TRT World, the English-language channel of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) on July 27, 2023, the educational problems of the Turkish community in Western Thrace were analyzed in-depth. In the analysis titled “How Greece denies proper education to Turks in Western Thrace?” with interviews with individuals and institutions representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace, there are references to the interview with the ABTTF President Halit Habip Oglu.
In the analysis, it is stated that despite the status and rights granted by the Lausanne Peace Treaty, Athens neglected the educational rights of the Turkish population in Western Thrace due to the obstacles in education, and the Turkish youth, who were unemployed due to the lack of development in the region, had to leave the region.
With reference to international reports it is noted in the analysis that despite the autonomous status and rights granted in education by the Treaty of Lausanne, Greece executed an irregular structure while implementing the Treaty, leading a poorly organized and neglected education system. In the analysis, which states that the Greek administration has systematically closed Turkish primary schools claiming “absence of students” since 2011, it is underlined that with the latest decision of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, nine more Turkish primary schools were closed in the Rhodope and Xanthi provinces.
In the analysis which included interviews with Hakan Efendi, who was educated in Western Thrace,; Aydın Ahmet, Chairman of the Western Thrace Turkish Teachers' Union (BTTÖB); Att. Ahmet Kara, Chairman of the Western Thrace Minority Schools Council Union and Halit Habip Oglu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe(ABTTF), it is noted that the Turkish identity was denied and the word “Turk” was removed from the Turkish primary schools after 1972. The analysis noted that the number of primary schools, which was 231 in 1995, decreased to 90 today, and it also referred to the problem of kindergartens. The analysis referred to Halit Habip Oglu’s statement by citing that while there is not a single Turkish kindergarten in Xanthi and Rhodope, there are 42 public kindergartens in Xanthi and 30 in Xanthi, since the state does not allow them to establish minority kindergartens.
It is stated that the fact that the Turkish community in Western Thrace is not equally employed in the public sector despite being Greek citizens due to the low-level education and institutional discrimination against Turkish youth. The analysis mentions the development problem in the region by referring to Halit Habip Oglu’s statement, “Migration abroad is increasing, and the population is decreasing in Western Thrace due to the lack of employment creation in our region, which is one of the country’s least developed regions in terms of economy”.
It is stated in the analysis that Athens describes the Turkish community not as a “Turkish minority”, but as “Muslim minority”, which in fact the denial of Turkish identity is believed to only perpetuate division and hinder progress towards an inclusive society. The analysis refers to Halit Habip Oglu’s statement for the reason behind this situation by citing his words “The main purpose of all these obstacles is to pretend that there is no Turkish presence in Western Thrace, that is, to try to turn this into reality by creating a perception based on denial”.
You can access the analysis in English on TRT World at https://www.trtworld.com/discrimination/how-greece-denies-proper-education-to-turks-in-western-thrace-14217228.
*Image: www.trtworld.com
