ABTTF President: “As the Turkish community in Western Thrace, we are first-hand witnesses to how badly justice is administered in our country. Following the dissolution of the Xanthi Turkish Union, the domestic legal process took 22 years. The European Court of Human Rights judgments in the group of case known as Bekir-Ousta and Others have not been executed for the past 17 years’’.
According to the 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard published by the European Commission on 1 July 2025, Greece ranks last among the EU countries in terms of the time required to deliver justice.
The scoreboard, which evaluates judicial mechanisms in the Member States, also examines how the public perceives the independence of courts and judges. According to the report, in 2025, 26% of the Greek population rated the independence of courts and judges as ‘‘very bad’’, 34% as ‘‘fairly bad’’, while only 30% considered it ‘‘fairly good’’. This figure is significantly below the EU average of 54%.
Among those who describe the justice system in the country as bad, 53% of participants responded, ‘‘very much’’ and 25% ‘‘somewhat’’ to the question of whether the government and politicians interfere in the independence of the judiciary.
“According to the EU Justice Scoreboard, trust in justice is at rock bottom. As the Turkish community in Western Thrace, we are first-hand witnesses to how badly justice works in our country. Following the dissolution of our Xanthi Turkish Union, the domestic legal process took 22 years. The European Court of Human Rights judgments in the group of cases known as Bekir-Ousta and Others have not been executed for the past 17 years. But beyond that, as the public has also indicated it in the opinion polls, political interference in the judiciary is excessive. We have seen this in the court decision regarding the dissolution of our Fenerbahçe Association, in the decision rejecting the establishment of the Cultural Association of the Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Xanthi, and in the Bekir-Ousta group of cases! What we see is also observed by the EU, as it will be reflected in the Rule of Law Report prepared by the European Commission! Our country’s leaders must now abandon this flawed understanding of justice and, from our perspective, prioritise the execution of the European Court of Human Rights judgments in the Bekir-Ousta group of cases!’’ said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
