ABTTF President: “As we can see in the judgments of the Court of Cassation, our country does not intend to execute all three judgments in this group of cases in any way and is constantly playing for time. Although more than 16 years have passed since the ECtHR judgments, the official legal status of our Xanthi Turkish Union has still not been restored and the other two associations have still not been registered by the national courts!’’
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe examined the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases concerning the violation by Greece of the freedom of association of the Turkish community in Western Thrace at its meeting in Strasbourg in France on 3-5 December 2024.
In its decision adopted on 5 December, the Committee of Ministers reiterated once again the fundamental importance of freedom of association in a democratic state and criticised the non-execution by Greece of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) concerning the Xanthi Turkish Union, the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association for more than 16 years.
Recalling that any progress on both individual and general measures in this group of cases appears to be dependent on the work of the Committee of Experts established by Greece, the Committee of Ministers strongly urged the competent authorities to keep it regularly informed of developments in the work of the Committee of Experts, including in respect of the consultative process with the applicant associations.
The Committee of Ministers decided to resume its examination of the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases at its meeting in June 2025 to review the progress achieved, encouraging the Greek authorities to make full use of the Council of Europe’s assistance and expertise in this field to ensure compliance of any proposed measures with the European Convention on Human Rights.
‘‘As we have indicated it before, our country deliberately set up the Committee of Experts and now uses it as a tool to further delay the execution of the ECtHR judgments on the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases and to stall the Committee of Ministers. Moreover, the roadmap submitted by the Committee of Experts to the Committee of Ministers does not mention the execution of the aforementioned ECtHR judgments. As we can see in the judgments of the Court of Cassation, our country does not intend to execute all three judgments in this group of cases in any way and is constantly playing for time. Although more than 16 years have passed since the ECtHR judgments, the official legal status of our Xanthi Turkish Union has still not been restored and the other two associations have still not been registered by the national courts! We will continue to follow the developments closely and inform the Committee of Ministers about the work of the Committee of Experts. We hereby reiterate our call on the Committee of Ministers to initiate an infringement procedure against our country, which has disregarded its obligations under the Convention, as soon as possible’’ said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
Please click below to access the relevant decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe: https://www.coe.int/en/web/cm/-/1514th-human-rights-meeting-of-the-ministers-deputies-3-5-december-2024
