ABTTF President: “As Prime Minister Mitsotakis said, we are citizens of this country, and as we have always expressed as the Turkish community in Western Thrace, we have no issue that cannot be solved as long as there is dialogue and good will. As long as the government has the will to do so and approaches our issues sincerely.”
President of the Republic of Türkiye, the motherland of Western Thrace Turks, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid an official visit to Athens on 7 December 2023. Arriving in Athens within the scope of the 5th meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council between Türkiye and Greece, Erdoğan first met with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and then with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. After the meeting held behind closed doors at the Maximos Mansion in Athens, President Erdoğan and Prime Minister Mitsotakis held a joint press conference.
Referring to the Turkish community in Western Thrace in his speech, President Erdoğan indicated the following: “The Turkish minority in Greece and the Greek minority in Turkey are the building blocks of our human and cultural richness. Increasing the peace and welfare of minorities will positively affect our relations. I expressed our expectations for the improvements required by international law in the situation of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace’’.
Responding to President Erdogan’s words about the Turkish community in Western Thrace, Prime Minister Mitsotakis said that the definition of the minority as ‘‘Muslim minority’’ was defined by the Treaty of Lausanne, and that (Western) Thrace itself constitutes an example of living together in harmony, and he noted that they were striving for Muslim citizens to have equal opportunities. Adding that it is their responsibility to ensure and strengthen the atmosphere of harmonious coexistence, Mitsotakis stated that the Greek government will continue to work in this direction.
Following the 5th meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council between Türkiye and Greece, chaired by President Erdoğan and Prime Minister Mitsotakis, the ‘‘Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighbourliness’’, to which Türkiye and Greece are parties, was announced. The declaration stated that the parties agreed to engage in continuous, constructive, and meaningful consultations.
“The results after the meeting between the president of our motherland and the prime minister of our country and the 5th meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council are very pleasing and promising. Both our motherland and our country desire to continue and further develop this positive agenda in their bilateral relations. In their statements, both leaders emphasised the importance of cooperation, solving the existing issues and enhancing peace between the two neighbouring countries. As Prime Minister Mitsotakis said, we are citizens of this country, and as we have always expressed as the Turkish community in Western Thrace, we have no issue that cannot be solved as long as there is dialogue and good will. As long as the government has the will to do so and approaches our issues sincerely”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
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