ABTTF President: “Due to the Commission’s lack of competence, the issue of national minorities has been left to EU Member States, but as we all know, our country Greece is one of the countries with the worst record as regards minority rights in the EU. However, since there is no general protection and control mechanism for the protection of minorities at the EU level, systematic discrimination against the Turkish community in Western Thrace continues in Greece.”
The European Commission responded to the question for written answer submitted by the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) François Alfonsi (France, Greens/EFA) on 27 April 2023, on hate speech and systematic discrimination targeting the Turkish community in Western Thrace.
In its written question, François Alfonsi indicated that the Turkish community in Western Thrace was exposed to hate speech in politics and in the media in Greece and noted that Xanthi SYRIZA Deputy Hüseyin Zeybek was accused of being a ‘‘spy of the Turks’’ by a viewer who was connected to the live broadcast programme on a local television channel and received a death threat.
Alfonsi asked the European Commission what steps it intends to take to strengthen the rule of law against hate speech and hate-motivated attacks in Greece and to protect the fundamental rights of people of different origins; and he also further asked what steps the European Commission would take to ensure that European citizens belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace are protected from discrimination and hatred in their own country Greece.
In a response on 4 August 2023, Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders on behalf of the European Commission indicated that the Commission did not have the competence to intervene in cases of individual discrimination, hate speech or hate crime before the national authorities.
Moreover, Reynders stated that they closely monitor the developments regarding rule of law in Greece of the Rule of Law Report, which is published every year.
The Commissioner for Justice recalled that respect for the rights of persons belonging to minorities is enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and that Article 21 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights prohibits any discrimination, including on grounds of ethnic or social origin, language or membership of a national minority.
Reacting to the answer given to the written question, ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu made the following statement: “The answer given by the European Commission to the written question of MEP François Alfonsi is, of course, unsatisfactory. Due to the Commission’s lack of competence, the issue of national minorities has been left to EU Member States, but as we all know, our country Greece is one of the countries with the worst record as regards minority rights in the EU. However, since there is no general protection and control mechanism for the protection of minorities at the EU level, systematic discrimination against the Turkish community in Western Thrace continues in Greece. The issue of the minorities is an issue of the EU, but the EU continues to turn its back on it. The EU has to develop a more comprehensive approach and policy as regards the minorities. The conditions imposed on candidate countries should also apply to existing Member States’’.
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