President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) Halit Habip Oğlu met with Frank Schwabe, Chairperson of the German National Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), who is also a Member of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag), on 4 April 2024. The meeting took place at Schwabe’s constituency office in Recklinghausen, Germany.
Habip Oğlu, who conveyed the current issues of the Turkish community in Western Thrace, especially those related to freedom of association, indicated that Greece denies the existence of the Turkish community in the country, and that Greece is persistently not executing the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (EctHR) with respect to the Xanthi Turkish Union, Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association for the past 16 years, despite all th warnings of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
Noting that the organisations representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace, especially ABTTF, and the members of Parliament and mayors belonging to the Turkish community are targeted and stigmatised in the media, Habip Oğlu explained that the Turkish community in Western Thrace is portrayed as a ‘‘threat’’ and ‘‘danger’’ in politics and mainstream media in his own country.
Furthermore, Habip Oğlu stated that the rule of law has been systematically violated in Greece recently, and that according to a recent survey, only 3 out of every 10 people in the country say they trust justice and judges, and pointed out that the Council of Europe and the European Union (EU), of which Greece is also a member, are closely monitoring this negative situation. Noting that the European Parliament adopted a resolution in February 2024 regarding serious developments that threaten the rule of law in Greece and called on the European Commission to take action, Habip Oğlu said that, as highlighted in the resolution, democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights are lately under serious threat in Greece.
