ABTTF President: “Our country continues to violate our community’s freedom of association by persistently not executing the judgments regarding our three associations in the Bekir-Ousta and Others Group of Cases of the European Court of Human Rights for the past 16 years. Our country must prove that it fully respects the principle of the rule of law, not in words but in substance, by urgently executing the judgments of the European Court’’.
In his meeting with Věra Jourová, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency in Athens on Monday (15 April), Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis indicated that Greece has always taken the recommendations of the European Commission’s annual report on the rule of law very seriously and that he is trying to comply as best as possible with those provisions.
Stating that they are in excellent cooperation with the European authorities, Mitsotakis claimed that significant progress has been made in Greece, which is also recognised by the European Commission.
“Prime Minister Mitsotakis, just like his ministers in our country2s government, has resorted to denying the facts, ignoring the sincere and constructive warnings and criticisms coming from Europe recently about the deterioration of the rule of law in our country Greece. In its resolution adopted on 7 February 2024, the European Parliament underscored that it had serious concerns that the rule of law was under threat in our country and called on the European Commission to act. Likewise, independent non-governmental organisations operating in our country have reported to the European Commission the constant violation of the rule of law and institutional regression in our country. The Turkish community in Western Thrace is also experiencing the negative effects of the systematic violation of the rule of law in our country. Our country continues to violate our community’s freedom of association by persistently not executing the judgments regarding our three associations in the Bekir-Ousta and Others Group of Cases of the European Court of Human Rights for the past 16 years. Our country must prove that it fully respects the principle of the rule of law, not in words but in substance, by urgently executing the judgments of the European Court”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
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