The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) made a presentation titled ‘‘Problems in equal access to quality education for children belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace, Greece’’ at a meeting of the Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages at the European Parliament (EP) on 23 November 2023.
ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu and ABTTF International Relations Director Melek Kırmacı Arık attended the meeting held at the EP building in Strasbourg, chaired by Intergroup Co-Chairs Loránt Vincze (EPP, Romania) and François Alfonsi (Greens/EFA, France). The meeting was also attended by Rhodes, Kos and the Dodecanese Turks Culture and Solidarity Association (ROISDER) President Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kaymakçı who participated and made a presentation about the educational issues of the Turkish community in Rhodes and Kos.
In his opening speech, ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu pointed out that our country Greece is the only Member State of the European Union (EU) that denies the existence of autochthonous national minorities and noted that although kindergarten education is compulsory in the country, the establishment of bilingual kindergartens is not allowed in the Western Thrace region where the Turkish community lives. Indicating that there are serious issues pertaining to bilingual primary schools belonging to the Turkish community, Habip Oğlu explained that the number of Turkish primary schools in Western Thrace has decreased from 226 to 90 over the years, from 9 to 0 in Rhodes, and from 3 to 0 in Kos and he noted that the numbers speak for themselves and reveal the truth in all its nakedness.
In its presentation at the meeting, ABTTF noted that although the Turkish community in Western Thrace has educational autonomy guaranteed by the Treaty of Lausanne, Turkish primary schools with autonomous status in Western Thrace are closed on the pretext of lack of sufficient pupils. Underlining that the number of Turkish primary schools in Western Thrace has decreased significantly since 2010, ABTTF indicated that the number of primary schools decreased to 90 in the 2023-2024 school year.
Pointing out that there are no bilingual Turkish minority kindergartens in Western Thrace and that the Greek authorities left the Turkish community’s requests for private kindergartens unanswered, ABTTF stated that the number of Turkish secondary schools is significantly insufficient compared to the population rate in the region, and that there is only one bilingual Turkish secondary school in the prefectures of Komotini and Xanthi. Furthermore, ABTTF noted that an 11-day action to protest the imposition of double-shift schooling at the Xanthi Turkish Minority Secondary and High School was organised in order to demand a solution to the school’s building problem, which has been going on for years, and that the problem continues despite the protest action, and further added that a written question was recently submitted to the European Commission on the issue.
ABTTF also noted that the situation of minority communities in a country is a very clear indicator in terms of understanding the level of democracy in that country and called on our country Greece to restore the educational autonomy of the Turkish community in Western Thrace.
