In a written statement submitted to the UN Human Rights Council, ABTTF highlighted that Greece had failed to implement the previous recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) ahead of the review in November 2026, and listed Greece’s violations of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace.
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) submitted a written statement titled “Ongoing Violations of the Rights of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace, Greece, and Failure to Implement the Previous UPR Recommendations” to the 62nd regular session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 15 June to 10 July 2026.
In the written statement prepared by ABTTF ahead of the 4th Cycle UPR review to be held on 2 November 2026, ABTTF noted that violations of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace continue and that previous UPR recommendations have not been implemented. ABTTF indicated that the regression in the rule of law, judicial independence, and fundamental rights in Greece has further exacerbated the problems faced by the Turkish minority.
Noting that although the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace possesses autonomy rights in the fields of education and religion under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, Greece continues to refuse to recognise the Turkish minority based on its ethnic identity, ABTTF stated that recommendations from the previous UPR process regarding the recognition of Turkish identity, the opening and administration of Turkish schools, and foundations belonging to Turks are not accepted, and it further highlighted that this demonstrates the ongoing structural contradiction between international human rights obligations and actual practices.
ABTTF noted that the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) judgments regarding the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases have not been executed since 2008 and noted that the ECtHR also ruled in its 2025 judgment in the Sagir and Others case that Greece had violated this freedom. Emphasising that the court judgment on the dissolution of the Western Thrace Fenerbahçe Sports and Culture Association also demonstrates the continuation of this stance, ABTTF noted that in the field of education, the educational autonomy of the Western Thrace Turks has been systematically eroded.
ABTTF noted that permission has still not been granted to open bilingual Turkish-Greek kindergartens and pointed out that the number of Turkish primary schools has dropped from 188 in 2011 to 83 in the 2025–2026 school year.
Noting that state intervention in the area of religious freedom is increasing, ABTTF stressed that the conversion of mufti offices into public institutions under a law enacted in 2022 has further exacerbated the state’s violation of the religious autonomy of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace. ABTTF emphasised that the process initiated in 2026 to appoint muftis to Komotini and Xanthi, following the appointment of a mufti to Didymoteicho, effectively and completely eliminated the Turkish minority’s religious autonomy through state action.
In its written statement, ABTTF called on the UPR Working Group, which will review Greece, to ensure the restoration of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace's educational and religious autonomy, the full execution of the ECtHR judgments, the removal of all obstacles to freedom of association, and the Greek-Turkish kindergartens, the freedom of the Western Thrace Turks to freely choose their own religious leaders, and Greece’s ratification of the Council of Europe’s fundamental conventions on minority rights.
Please click below to access ABTTF’s written statement:
https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4119517?ln=en&v=pdf
