ABTTF President: “In June 2021, the Court of Cassation rejected the appeals lodged by the Xanthi Turkish Union, and in August 2022, those lodged by the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association, both of which were based on judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Furthermore, in June 2025, in a case brought by the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Xanthi, our country was once again found guilty by the ECtHR on grounds that it had violated the freedom of association. Indeed, all of this took place whilst ND was in power. Therefore, given all these concrete facts, we, as the Western Thrace Turks, do not find Mitsotakis’ claims—that the constitutional amendment planned by ND will fundamentally resolve the issues regarding the rule of law in our country—to be in the least bit credible’’.
In a speech delivered on 7 May 2026 at a meeting of the parliamentary group of New Democracy (ND), Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to the party’s preparations for constitutional amendments, describing the proposed reforms as a roadmap that would usher Greece into a new era.
Mitsotakis noted that the envisaged constitutional amendments aim to change the method of selecting judicial officials, reorganise the process for appointing the heads of independent institutions, and ensure that draft legislation is pre-screened for compliance with the Constitution and European Union (EU) law.
‘‘Our country, Greece, which has systematically violated the freedom of association of the Western Thrace Turks for years, has persistently failed to execute the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) judgments regarding our associations in the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases for the past 18 years. As clearly stipulated in the latest report on Greece by the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations (CINGOs) of the Council of Europe, our country, which has completely politicised this group of cases, has no intention of executing the aforementioned ECtHR judgments. The ND government led by Prime Minister Mitsotakis, which has been in power since July 2019, has taken no steps to execute these judgments to date, despite all the warnings from the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, thereby disregarding the rule of law. In June 2021, the Court of Cassation rejected the appeals lodged by the Xanthi Turkish Union, and in August 2022, those lodged by the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Rodopi and the Evros Prefecture Minority Youth Association, both of which were based on judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Furthermore, in June 2025, in a case brought by the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Prefecture of Xanthi, our country was once again found guilty by the ECtHR on grounds that it had violated the freedom of association. Indeed, all of this took place whilst ND was in power. Therefore, given all these concrete facts, we, as the Western Thrace Turks, do not find Mitsotakis’ claims—that the constitutional amendment planned by ND will fundamentally resolve the issues regarding the rule of law in our country—to be in the least bit credible’’; said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
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