ABTTF President: “If our country does not take a concrete step on the issue until the meeting in December, we ask the Committee of Ministers to consider initiating the infringement procedure against our country for not fulfilling its obligations arising from the treaty’’.
Director of Human Rights of the Council of Europe Christophe Poirel and officials of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) visited Athens on 8-9 November 2023 to hold talks regarding the non-execution of ECtHR judgments against Greece.
The delegation held meetings with the Greek officials where the non-execution of ECtHR judgments regarding a series of cases that are closely examined by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, including the ‘‘Bekir Usta and Others Group of Cases’’ which includes the Xanthi Turkish Union, the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association were discussed.
“This latest visit to our country by the delegation, including officials from the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), shows that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe follows the execution of the ECtHR judgments regarding our associations very closely. The fact that the visit was made before the meeting of the Committee of Ministers in Strasbourg on 5-7 December 2023, where the Bekir-Ousta and Others Group of Cases will be examined, shows how much importance the Council of Europe attaches to the issue. Despite all the decisions and warnings of the Committee of Ministers and the disregard it has for the European Convention on Human Rights, to which it is a party, our country has been insisting on not executing the ECtHR judgments regarding our associations for more than 15 years. As ABTTF, we will continue our efforts to ensure that our country promptly executes the ECtHR judgments regarding our associations by respecting international law before the Council of Europe. If our country does not take a concrete step on the issue until the meeting in December, we ask the Committee of Ministers to consider initiating the infringement procedure against our country for not fulfilling its obligations arising from the treaty”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
