ABTTF President: “Although our country has been an EU member since 1981, while it demands respect for the rights and national identity of the Greek minority in Albania, it denies the ethnic Turkish identity of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace—whose members hold both Greek and EU citizenship—and bans our associations bearing the name “Turkish.” As an EU member state, our country must first address its own poor record on human and minority rights and fully uphold the principles of the rule of law and democracy.”
During a meeting on 9 June 2026, with Speaker of the Albanian Parliament Niko Peleshi, Speaker of the Greek Parliament Nikitas Kaklamanis stated that Albania’s accession to the European Union (EU) is contingent upon respect for the property rights and national identity of the Greek national minority living there.
Noting that recent events in Albania’s Zvërnec region have caused sorrow and concern in Greece, Kaklamanis emphasised that for Albania to become an EU member, it must align its national legislation with European law.
‘‘It is perfectly normal for our country, Greece, to safeguard the rights of the Greek minority in Albania—as their motherland—and to seek a resolution to their issues. However, the fact that our country’s leaders, like Parliament Speaker Kaklamanis, consistently link this issue to Albania’s EU accession process clearly exposes the double standard in our country’s approach to human and minority rights. Although our country has been an EU member since 1981, while it demands respect for the rights and national identity of the Greek minority in Albania, it denies the ethnic Turkish identity of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace—whose members hold both Greek and EU citizenship—and bans our associations bearing the name “Turkish.” By failing to execute the European Court of Human Rights’ judgments regarding our associations for the past 18 years, our country—as explicitly stipulated in reports by the European Commission and the European Parliament—disregards the rule of law and international law, which are among the EU’s most fundamental values. As an EU member state, our country must first address its own poor record on human and minority rights and fully uphold the principles of the rule of law and democracy”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe.
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