Provocative letter to the UN from the “Party of Equality, Peace and Friendship” of Thrace on “problems of the Muslim minority”

The Equality, Peace and Friendship Party in Western Thrace (DEP) of the Muslims of Thrace sent a provocative letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues addressing problems faced by ethnic minorities in Greece — and especially the “Turkish minority” living in Western Thrace as he claims.

According to the SKAI correspondent in Istanbul, Manoli Kostidiin the letter, appeals attention to problems that closely concern the “Turkish minority”such as problems in education, interventions in the autonomous minority education system, through the system of teacher appointments and interventions in the curriculum.

At the same time, he argues that more than 100 minority primary schools closed in the last 20 years and it is emphasized that the establishment of kindergartens that would provide bilingual education to the minority, in Turkish and Greek, is not allowed.

It is also argued that the “Turkish minority” of Western Thrace had the right to elect their own religious leaders according to international and national regulations, but Greece, in violation of the provisions of international and bilateral agreements, deprived the minority of the right to elect its religious leaders with the adoption of the 1920/1991 law.

“Since then, there has been a double treaty, of muftis appointed by the state in ‘Western Thrace’ and muftis elected by the ‘Turkish minority’ in the region. The elected Muftis, who are accepted and respected by the ‘minority’, are often called ‘pseudo-muftis’, humiliated and reviled by the local media and the authorities of ‘Western Thrace’,” the letter states.

Furthermore, it is noted that the “Turkish minority” cannot freely manage the properties of their institutions due to the fact that they are controlled by state-appointed boards of directors since the Junta period of 1967, and it is reported that clubs were closed because they had the word “Turkish” » in their name.

“Our associations with half a century of life because of the word ‘Turkish’ in their name have been closed. Thus, the ‘Turkish minority’ is subject to great discrimination in the exercise of its right to freely assemble and associate. The decisions of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the restoration of the legal status of ‘Turkish associations’ have not been implemented since 2008,” the letter states.

It is also recalled that the president of the Equality, Peace and Friendship Party Çiğdem Asafoğlu became the target of the central Greek media when she openly expressed her Turkish identity in a television interview she gave after her victory in the European Parliament elections in 2019, while it is highlighted that prominent minority personalities face serious threats.

“Unfortunately, since January 29, 1988 [σ.σ. θεωρούμενη ως ‘Ημέρα Ανεξαρτησίας των Τούρκων της Δ.Θράκης’] no progress has been made on injustices in the context of minority rights, injustices which have been brought to the attention of minorities. Talking about the same issues on the eve of National Resistance and Solidarity Day makes us worry about the future,” the letter also states.

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