ABTTF President: “Just as the Greek minority in Albania is Greek; we as the Turkish minority in Greece, we are Turks! However, our country does not accept this, turns its back on us, either ignores our problems or creates new ones each single day!’’
Our country Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, went to Tirana, the capital of Albania, on 16 October 2023, to attend the Berlin Process summit, which was launched in 2014 to facilitate the EU integration of the Western Balkans and increase cooperation between the countries of the region.
Within the framework of his visit to Tirana, Prime Minister Mitsotakis met with the representatives of the Greek minority in Albania and discussed the issues of the Greek minority in Albania with them.
President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) Halit Habip Oğlu made the following statement: “It is quite natural for our country’s prime minister to meet with the Greek minority living there during his visit to Tirana and discuss issues that concern them. Indeed, the prime minister of our country supports the Greek minorities living outside the borders of the country and listens to their issues, and we appreciate this attitude. On the other hand, I would like to express our disappointment as Western Thrace Turks, who are citizens of our country. We have been in this land for centuries, this is our homeland, as Greek citizens, we have never given up on our country even for a day. Just as the Greek minority in Albania is Greek; we as the Turkish minority in Greece, we are Turks! However, our country does not accept this, turns its back on us, either ignores our problems or creates new ones each single day! We have schools in our region, education is provided in Turkish, but the state defines them as Muslim Minority schools, not Turkish schools, and the Turkish education provided there is labelled as a Minority programme! Our Prime Minister embraces the Greek minority in Albania because they share the same ethnicity, but when it comes to us, he always approaches us with suspicion and perceives us as a threat to the integrity of the country. Indeed, because this distrust and insincerity persists, we can neither discuss nor solve our existing issues! That is because the roads leading to a solution are closed, the state itself is closing them!’’
*Image: www.anadoluimages.com
