Greece’s Unrecognised Turkish Minority Takes Plight to UN

A Muslim in Athens praying in a new mosque, the first official place of worship for Muslims in Athens, 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/ORESTI PANAGIOTOU

The letter focuses on its educational and religious problems and its legal harassment for use of the word "Turkish".

Greece does not recognise the existence of a Turkish community in Thrace, only a "Muslim" minority alongside Pomaks (Bulgarian-speaking Muslims) and Muslim Roma.

Regarding educational issues, the party claims there is state interference in the education system, and that over the last 20 years, more than 100 minority schools have been closed.

The party also refers to the legal right of the minority to choose its own religious leaders, or Muftis. Today there are three Muftis, one in Xanthi, one in Komotini, and one in Didymoteixo, northern Greece, chosen by the Greek government; and two Muftis, one in Xanthi and Komotini, elected by the minority.

The DEB also says associations with the word "Turkish" in them have been closed, violating their right to freedom of organization and assembly.

A ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on the return of legal status to Turkish associations and unions has not been enforced since it was adopted in 2008, it notes.

Four unions that were either dissolved by the authorities or never registered won cases before the European Court for Human Rights, citing the European Convention on Human Rights and the Greek constitution.

The DEB highlights that its president Çiğdem Asafoğlu became a target of the Greek media when she openly expressed her Turkish identity in a TV interview after winning a seat in the European Parliament elections in 2019, while highlighting that other prominent figures from the minority have also faced...