ABTTF President: “Our country, which has tried every means possible to avoid executing the previous three judgments of the ECtHR concerning our associations, and which has buried its head in the sand for over 17 years, disregarding international law, now has no excuse left. We call on our country to execute all the judgments of the ECtHR concerning our associations in a full and effective manner, and to recognise the ethnic Turkish identity of our community without further delay.”
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled against Greece in a case brought by the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Xanthi, which was not registered by Greek national courts due to the word ‘‘Turkish’’ in its name.
In its unanimous decision on 24 June 2025 in the case of Sağır and Others v. Greece (Application No. 34724/18), the ECHR ruled that Greece had violated Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees freedom of association, by refusing to register the association.
The ECtHR ordered Greece to pay the applicant, Aysel Sağır, and six other individuals 3,000 euros each in non-pecuniary damages and a total of 4,677.80 euros in legal costs, in accordance with Article 41 of the Convention, which concerns just satisfaction.
In its reasoning, the ECtHR emphasised that freedom of association is particularly important for persons belonging to minorities, including national and ethnic minorities, and noted that Greece had failed to provide any concrete evidence that the name of the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Xanthi constituted a threat to public order, and that the word ‘‘Turkish’’ in the association’s name could not be considered a threat to a democratic society.
Following its judgments in October 2007 regarding the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association, in March 2008 regarding the Xanthi Turkish Union, and in March 2008 regarding the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi, the ECtHR ruled for the fourth time that Greece had violated the freedom of association of the Turkish community in Western Thrace with its decision regarding the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Xanthi.
Seven adult women residing in Xanthi and holding Greek citizenship applied to the Xanthi Court of First Instance in 2010 for the registration of the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Xanthi. However, the court rejected the registration request on grounds that the association’s name included the word ‘‘Turkish’’ and that this could create a ‘‘misleading impression’’. In 2014, the Thrace Court of Appeal, and in 2017, the Greek Court of Cassation rejected the applicants’ appeals. Having exhausted domestic legal remedies, the applicants filed a lawsuit against Greece at the ECtHR, relying on Article 11 of the Convention (freedom of assembly and association), claiming that their association had not been registered.
“The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has once again ruled against Greece in the case of the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Xanthi, citing the same grounds as in its previous rulings regarding the dissolved Xanthi Turkish Union, the unregistered Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi, and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association. With this latest decision, it is no longer possible for our country to continue denying the ethnic Turkish identity of our community. Our country, which has tried every means to avoid executing the ECtHR’s previous three judgments regarding our associations and has ignored international law for over 17 years by burying its head in the sand, now has no further excuses. We call on our country to immediately execute all of the ECtHR’s judgments regarding our associations in full and effectively, and to recognise the ethnic Turkish identity of our community’’, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
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