ABTTF President: “We support our pupils’ calls for better educational conditions. Our children should not have to bear the burden of problems that have remained unresolved for years! We call on the relevant authorities to find solutions to the problems at our school without delay.”
Pupils at the Xanthi Turkish Minority Secondary and High School staged a class boycott on 5 October 2026, demanding an improvement in educational conditions at their school and a resolution to the problems they were facing.
The boycott, in which all pupils at the school took part, continued until the third lesson period. The pupils conveyed their demands by submitting a document they had prepared, titled ‘‘Statement on the Pupils’ Protests and Demands’’, to the school management.
The pupils also called for the elected School Board and the Parents’ Association to be kept informed about developments at the school and decisions taken; for communication with pupils to be based on mutual respect; and for an end to the practice of requiring written permission to use the toilet during lessons.
Issues regarding the building and educational conditions at the Xanthi Turkish Minority Secondary and High School have persisted for many years. In response to inadequate facilities and double-shift- schooling, pupils and parents organised a two-week boycott in 2019, followed by a protest march attended by approximately 2,000 people; in 2023, they held a further protest involving around 1,500 participants. Although doubhe-shift schooling came to an end following the 2023 protests, the demand for a new school building was not met. In September 2025, the refusal to allow the chair of the elected School Board – who is in charge of the school – to enter the premises sparked outrage.
“We fully support the demands of our pupils at the Xanthi Turkish Minority Secondary and High School to receive a high-quality education under better conditions in their own school. We demand a permanent solution to the building issues at our school, where our children have been educated for years. In 2019 and 2023, our pupils and parents took to the streets for this cause. Last year, the chair of our elected school board was not even permitted to enter the school they oversee. Today, our children are once again forced to make their voices heard. Our children should not have to bear the burden of problems that have remained unresolved for years! Our schools are the cornerstone institutions of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace’s educational autonomy. Our elected school board must play an active role in decisions and processes concerning our school, and the demands of our pupils and parents must be taken into account. We call upon the relevant authorities to listen to our pupils’ voices and to find lasting solutions to the problems at our school”, said ABTTF President Halit Habip Oğlu.
*Image: www.gundemgazetesi.com
