A Turkish minority group in Western Thrace, Greece said Athens “continues to ignore the rights violations and discrimination” the community in the region is subjected to by “distorting the facts.”
This came in a Tuesday statement by the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), in response to a statement by the Greek Foreign Ministry Ministry, which was released after the Turkish Foreign Ministry shared a post on X on Monday, marking the 98th anniversary of the foundation of the Xanthi Turkish Union (Iskece Turk Birligi).
In the statement, the ABTTF said Greece assesses the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne according to its own interpretation and “insistently avoids establishing a direct dialogue” with the Turkish community of Western Thrace.
“As much as Christians living in Istanbul, Gokceada and Bozcaada are of Greek origin, we who have been living in Western Thrace for centuries are just as much Turks,” the group said.
Stressing that Türkiye permitted the opening of a private Greek primary school in Gokceada in 2013, even for only three students, it said Greece is “disturbed even by the celebration of the anniversary of the establishment of the oldest non-governmental organization of our community, which was dissolved due to the word ‘Turkish’ in its name.”
The ABTTF said decisions by the European Court of Human Rights against Greece regarding associations, including the Xanthi Turkish Union, have not been implemented for 17 years, noting that Athens “flagrantly violates” the community’s freedom of association.