Article 19

An Open racist content: the article 19 of the Greek Citizenship Law 

The legislation that organizes the oppression and separation is not fully secret. There was no need for open legislation as the secret legislation was strong enough than constitution laws, international agreements, human rights and it was organizing almost all issues. Also the "openness" had many side effects. But there was a need for open legislation as it was not possible to organize everything with secret legislation. There are no many public, open legislation that puts a rule for separation, oppression, on Minority. The best example is the article 19 of the Greek Citizenship Law content.

The article which was a product of Ioannis Metaxas dictatorship (1939) which was established under the influence of pre second world war fascist German Nazi. And Italian dictatorship gives the authority the right to expel non ethnic Greek Citizens from Greek Citizenship. The article 19 has a "must" that is states as "If the Greek Citizenship has left Greece with the intention of not returning"

The problem would not be as severe as it is if the Greek governments took seriously this must. But the Greek Governments without seeking for this "must" are expelling anyone that they have considered previously. We had mentioned in the first chapter the aim of this article 19, (Greek type of ethnic cleaning ) and its results (Haymatlos' that were expelled from the Greek Citizenship ) We would like to mention some other aspects here.

* With the article 19 the ethnic minorities and ethnic groups are on the target. The ethnic minorities neither identities are respected, nor their presence is respected. When it comes to oppression of these minorities by using these type of measures it is contributed to form a negative image of them. By this way Minority members are expelled according to article 19 not because they are "Muslims" as officially they are mentioned, but because of their "Turkish Identity" that is denied officially.

* Before and after 2nd World War this article 19 was applied for the Macedonian Minority Today it is applied to the Turkish Muslim Minority of Western Thrace.

* The Minority members learn that they are expelled form Greek Citizenship when they are returning from a trip to Turkey, at the Greek borders generally. There, they are informed that they have lost their citizenship that they are a haymatlos from now and on, and their passports, their identities, their documents are token . the Minority members has two options at this point : He will try to enter to Greece after a quarrel, a debate with the border police officers, and only if he wins the debate(which is quite uncommon). But in this case the Minority members will not have any citizenship right in Greece. Or else he will return to Turkey. He wile live at Turkey also as a haymatlos. Usually the second happens.

* There are expelling cases to the workers that have gone for temporary works in EU countries.

* It is not rare that the minority members are expelled from citizenship when he is in Greece , in Thrace, without having gone abroad. There are Minority members who were expelled meanwhile they were at their army duty.

* The citizen is not informed when he is expelled. The administration tries to catch the citizens in an unexpected time. It is unknown when the citizen will be informed about this case. Usually he/she learns that when he/she is returning from a trip abroad. But they may be not informed at all. They are not informed that, but they somehow learn that by a coincidence say that after he/she asks for a birth document from the municipality related office. There are Minority members that have learned their expel after 5 or 10 years. So we can imagine creatively that there are people who are expelled from the citizenship and they are not aware of it.

* Keeping unaware, uninformed the citizen about his expel from citizenship and processing secretly aims to prevent any type of reaction response. By this way the right to apply to the Court of Appeals within 6 months is due.

* The reason of why a person has expelled is not explained and his file is not given to his lawyer. An example: The reason of having expelled a young student from the Greek Citizenship was because he had not accepted the proposal of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs to become an agent for them was written in a document of the ministry was written in a document of the ministry that an Athens Daily newspaper bring in to light. The person after 10 t-years of adventure from one court to another was accepted back to the citizenship. 2 years ago.

* The article 19 of the Greek Citizenship Law separates the people to ethnic Greeks, and ethnic foreigners. The separation is a racist one because it has not made with the aim to show a highest respect to the ethnic foreigners, but it is a negative separation done to be able to discriminate and to take measures against them.

* The article 19 is against the spirit of 1975 constitution. But the legislator was so much considered with the importance of the article that it protected it with a separate article of the constitution, and left it valid. (Article 111, paragraph 6) By this way the racist content and message of the article 19 has passed to the constitution and it has guarantied by it.

* Actually it has mentioned by the constitution that article 19 was temporarily valid and should be changed, invalidated with a law. But although 22 years has passed from 1975 to 1977 there was neither a change, invalidation nor a termination of its execution.

* The article 19 has a real function and a symbolic function. By the second function which is also guaranteed by the constitution also, it was shown how and with what philosophy the Minority problem and the Minority members should be handled and treated. This philosophy determines all the behavior of the Greek administration towards the Minority. Only the special function of article 19 will be terminated with its cancellation. But it will take longer time and harder efforts to change the symbolic meaning and the general perception of it.

* Almost no legislator, lawyer, politician, journalist has had the courage to criticize the article 19 until now. Except one lawyer from Athens Giorgos Appostolidis. There is a kind of national censorship on this issue. By this situation it is easily understandable how difficult is to talk about minority, to defend other issues related with the minority, in an environment where total silence have produced via censorship, in an issue of harsh human right violation.

* Within the year 1991 for the first time the government officials started talking about the necessity of canceling the article 19 (Mr. Mitsotakis Prime Minister of the time, for the first time gave the promise to cancel the article 19. But after the huge reactions he faced especially from Mr. Papadreu that times main Opposition he couldn't realize his promise.) After an attitude change about the article 19 was observed at the government, reactions and criticisms started coming to day light. Finally the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs declared publicly that the article 19 was going to be canceled. (August 1997). This comment of an authority of Ministry of Foreign Affairs resulted to an explosion of reactions. August and September 1997 are full of reactions coming from the racist and marginal rightist groups and the representatives of the Orthodox Church. These protests that had been lead by the local orthodox metropolitans of the three provinces of Thrace tend to spread around to the other areas of Greece and new metropolitans added. The case is still on progress. The Orthodox Church that leads the anti Minority Symbolism, does not mind to uncover itself on this issue this time.

* The latest development on the issue is as follows. According to the news that are spread at the press the article 19 won't be canceled, just the wording of it will change from "other ethnic origin Greek" to "Greek Citizens". So that the article 19 will become as: "The Greek Citizen that lives the country without the intention of returning". By this way the "racist content" will be erased symbolically, satisfying the oppressions and acquisitions from EU on being racist. Finally if this article is not canceled and its wording is modified only the same execution will continue. The famous article 19 with its generalized and erased racism will continue to be applied to expel the Minority members from the Greek Citizenship. If the Greek Governments were sincerely they would act proactively and would prevent the results of the article without any modification on it. They would just stop the application of the article 19. The literature about canceling or modifying the article is just a trick to mislead the opinions of Minority and the EU especially, because it has continued the application of the article and the expelling of the Minority members. From the other side nobody cares about the fortune of the expelled who weather live in Greece or in Turkey .

The only EU country producing "heimatlos" from its own citizens 

We have mentioned that the second reason for the decrease of the minority population other than immigration is the "expelling from citizenship policy". Although the number of those who have been expelled from citizenship, a "termination of the minority policy", is not know, it is estimated that it is more than 10 thousands, since the time that Greece has become an EU member. Although these people were Greece citizens at the beginning, they are living without being able to use their citizenship rights, after they are expelled and declared as haymatlos. 

Most of these haymatlos are applying and taking the Turkish citizenship. The number of the minority's pre-members who are living as haymatlos without taking the Turkish Citizenship is around few thousands. The number of the haymatlos that continue living within the Minority in Greece is supposed to be around 2 thousands. These haymatlos are living with the hope that one day Greece will take them back to Greek Citizenship, and from the other side Greece is living with the hope that these people will not stand the difficulties of being haymatlos and will immigrate to one other country.

We can easily claim that Greece is the only and not seen anywhere else example of a state that creates haymatlos among its own citizens. And it is continuing this policy although it is a member state of EU.