ABTTF President: “As ABTTF, we would like to convey our get well wishes to President of the Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association Dr. Hüseyin Baltacı and President of the Xanthi Turkish Union Ozan Ahmetoğlu, who were called to testify within the scope of the investigation, and we would like to express that we are always with them and fully support them in this judicial process.”
President of the Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association (WTMUGA) Dr. Hüseyin Baltacı and President of the Xanthi Turkish Union (ITB) Ozan Ahmetoğlu, recently gave their statements at the Xanthi Police Headquarters within the scope of the investigation initiated regarding the provocation attempt carried out by the appointed mufti regents during Friday prayers at the Aşağımahalle Çınar Mosque in Xanthi on 11 October 2024.
The Xanthi Police Headquarters had initiated an investigation after the appointed mufti regents, who were not recognised by the Turkish community in Western Thrace, were not allowed to enter the mosque with their robes and turbans by the congregation.
“The investigation opened after the overt provocation attempt of the appointed mufti regents, which our community ignores, is a clear continuation and the last example of the legal pressure and intimidation targeting the leaders of the institutions and organisations representing our community in recent years in our country Greece. As ABTTF, we would like to convey our get well wishes to President of the Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association Dr. Hüseyin Baltacı and President of the Xanthi Turkish Union Ozan Ahmetoğlu, who have been called to testify within the scope of the investigation, and we would like to express that we are always with them and fully support them in this judicial process. We call on our country to respect the religious autonomy and will of our community, which is guaranteed by bilateral and international treaties, and to recognise the elected muftis immediately”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
