Muslim minority of Greece

The Ministry of Education, Research and Religion will grant licenses to all houses of worship operating in Greece since 1955, according to a cyclical issued on Wednesday.

The move concerns houses of worship used by the Muslim minority in Thrace, northern Greece, and on the islands of Kos and Rhodes, synagogues and the churches of Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals and Copts.

The lawyers of two Muslim religious leaders (muftis) said on Friday they plan to appeal to European Union judicial bodies against a provision voted through the Greek Parliament last month that stipulates their retirement.

The August provision states that muftis in the Greek border region of Western Thrace must retire at the age of 67.

The government has submitted legislation to Parliament that will oblige the early retirement of two government-appointed muftis in the Greek border region of Western Thrace.

The Foreign Ministry has brushed off criticism from Turkey after Parliament voted legislation curbing the influence of Islamic Sharia law courts in the region of Thrace in northeastern Greece, which is home to some 100,000 Greek Muslims.

The issue of the Greek Muslim minority in Western Thrace has become an almost permanent fixture on the agenda, most recently as a result of comments made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to Greece in early December.

President Erdoğan convenes with Muslim minority in western Thrace

The Greek Foreign Ministry has slammed a conference held in Turkey titled "The Turkish identity of Muslims in Western Thrace" as stoking tension and uncertainty among Greek Muslims.

Greece does not recognize its Muslim population, located predominantly in Western Thrace, as an ethnically Turkish minority but as a religious one.

Unknown individuals attacked the newly-built offices of the Komotini Muslim minority party DEB during the night, spraying the message ‘Guards of Thrace’ on the walls, as well as breaking windows and office equipment.

The foreign minister on Tuesday categorically condemned the violent attack on the offices of the Equality, Peace and Friendship Party, in Komotini.

A pseudo mufti in the northeast province of Thrace wants a … referendum. And not just any referendum, but one to show people and other countries, as he maintained, “who and how many Turks there are in western Thrace.”

The statement belongs to one Ahmet Mete, who used the “referendum” idea to prove, as he claimed, that “150,000 Turks” live in the northeast Greek province.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Konstantinos Koutras said that the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) conference being held in Komotini, northern Greece, is proof that Greece respects religious freedom. He said that all Greek citizens have the right to assemble regardless of religion and he also pointed out that citizens belonging to minority groups are privy to equal rights.