ABTTF President: “When it comes to our country and our community, even the most fundamental human rights are ignored. There should be no double standards when it comes to human and minority rights, but our country has been doing this for years. When imposing conditions on neighbouring Albania during its EU accession process, when will our country realise that the Copenhagen Criteria, which include respect for and protection of national minorities, apply not only to EU candidate countries but also to the EU’s current Member States and therefore to itself?!’’
Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Haris Theoharis represented the Greek government at the opening of a project to improve the road network in Albania’s mountainous Upper Pogoni region.
In his speech there, Theoharis indicated that the Greek national minority living in Albania had created a valuable and vibrant bond of friendship and cooperation between the two countries, expressing Greece’s desire for the Greek national minority to remain an integral part of Albanian society and to contribute to the prosperity and development of both countries.
Noting that the protection of the Greek national minority’s rights to identity, property, language and education is a priority in Greece’s foreign policy, Theoharis said that fully guaranteeing these rights is an indispensable condition for Albania’s progress towards the European Union (EU).
“It is perfectly natural and understandable for Greece’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Haris Theoharis to safeguard the rights of the Greek minority in Albania. However, we would expect our country to show the same sensitivity towards the Turkish community in Western Thrace, who are Greek citizens. Our country wants Albania, which is in the process of joining the EU, to fully guarantee the rights of the Greek minority, but as a member of the EU since 1981, it has systematically violated the rights and freedoms of our community. Our country, which denies our ethnic Turkish identity and bans our associations bearing the word “Turkish”, is trying every means to completely eliminate our community’s educational and religious autonomy, which is guaranteed by the Treaty of Lausanne. When it comes to our community, our country ignores even the most basic human rights. There can be no double standards when it comes to human and minority rights, but our country has been doing just that for years. When imposing conditions on neighbouring Albania during its EU accession process, when will our country realise that the Copenhagen Criteria, which include respect for and protection of national minorities, apply not only to EU candidate countries but also to current EU Member States, and therefore to itself?!”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
*Image: www.anadoluimages.com
