ABTTF President: “On the one hand, our country Greece, which has closed our autonomous primary schools in violation of the Treaty of Lausanne and refuses to re-open those that have reached sufficient number of pupils, such as in the village of Paleo Zigos (Mizanlı). On the other hand, our motherland Türkiye, which permits the opening of a Greek primary school in Gökçeada for just three students and supports the education of the Greek Orthodox minority. It appears that our country will continue with this policy and these practices until it closes all Turkish schools in Western Thrace and completely eliminates our community’s educational autonomy.”
Manolis Kostidis, correspondent in Türkiye for Kathimerini, one of Greece’s leading newspapers, indicated in his article dated 13 September 2025 that Türkiye has assisted in the modernisation and preservation of Greek Orthodox minority schools and that Turkish authorities have largely cooperated with school administrations and Greek officials, providing support.
Noting that there are currently around 300 Greek Orthodox students in total across all levels of education, Kostidis reported that many graduates of Greek schools enter good universities in Türkiye and Greece, which demonstrates the quality of education at these schools.
Kostidis, as a member of the Greek Orthodox minority in Istanbul, expressed his sadness upon reading that the minority school in the village of Paleo Zigos (Mizanlı), in the prefecture of Xanthi in Western Thrace, had not re-opened despite reaching the required number of pupils. He suggested that there may be some bureaucratic reasons for this, but that these could be overcome. Manolis stressed that it was important not to forget that minority schools had their own unique characteristics and needed to be treated with positive sensitivity.
‘‘Manolis Kostidis, with all sincerity, expressed in one of our country’s largest newspapers that our school in the village of Paleo Zigos (Mizanlı) was arbitrarily not re-opened by the Greek authorities, thus giving voice to the feelings of our community. Indeed, on the one hand, our country Greece, which closes our autonomous primary schools in violation of the Treaty of Lausanne and does not allow the re-opening of those that have reached sufficient number of pupils, as in the village of Paleo Zigos (Mizanlı); on the other hand, our motherland Türkiye, which allows the opening of a Greek primary school for only three students in Gökçeada and supports the education of the Greek Orthodox minority. Our request for a bilingual Turkish-Greek kindergarten for the Turkish minority has been rejected for years. The powers of the boards of our autonomous schools are increasingly being restricted, and the chairs and members of the boards are not allowed to enter the schools they manage. Our request for a new building for the Xanthi Turkish Minority Middle and High School has still not been met, and our students at this school are deliberately forced to continue studying in outdated conditions so that they will prefer public schools. It appears that our country will continue with this policy and these practices until it closes all Turkish schools in Western Thrace and completely eliminates our community’s educational autonomy’’, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
*Image: www.anadoluimages.com
