The Turkish minority living in Greece’s Western Thrace region on Saturday voiced the continuing inequalities it faces at a United Nations forum.
A delegation formed of the European Federation of Western Thrace Turks (ABTTF) and the Western Thrace Turkish Minority High Educated Association (BTAYTD) participated in the "U.N. Forum on Minority Issues – Minorities and Cohesive Societies: Equality, Social Inclusion and Socioeconomic Participation" in Switzerland’s Geneva.
The ABTTF said at the forum that the lack of equal access to quality education is preventing children of minorities from gaining access to political and civilized rights while causing these children to be marginalized, contributing to discrimination.
It said that through the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, Turks of Western Thrace had the right to establish and administer their own schools, while Greeks had the same rights in Istanbul, Bozcaada and Gökçeada. It was underlined at the forum that Greece destroyed this educational autonomy and therefore, the right to access equal and quality education was disrupted due to state interventions.
It added that the Western Thracian Turkish community made up the majority, some 55%, of the population in Rhodope, around half in Xanthi (Iskeçe) with 45% and 10% in Maritsa, but a Turkish kindergarten was not allowed in the region.
Underlining that socioeconomic discrimination has existed from past to present, it was stated that Western Thrace is the least developed region of the country today and that Turkish society is further victimized by discriminatory practices in this underdeveloped region.
The Western Thrace region – located near Greece’s northeastern border with Türkiye – is home to a substantial, centuries-old Muslim Turkish minority numbering around 150,000.
The rights of Western Thracian Turks are guaranteed under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. But over the decades, the situation has seriously deteriorated for the community, which is also economically one of the poorest in Greece.
The Greek government has committed numerous breaches of its obligations and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings over the years, including shutting down schools and mosques and banning the use of the words "Turk" or "Turkish."
Earlier this year, the Turkish minority turned to the United Nations’ special rapporteur on minority issues to highlight the problems it has been facing, including the closure of schools, the banning of Turkish-language education, and refusing to legally allow the community to elect their religious leaders like muftis (Muslim clerics), which is a treaty right.
Türkiye has long criticized Greece for depriving the community of their basic rights and freedoms.
The issue also looms over Turkish-Greek relations, which have been strained for decades over several disputes regarding territorial claims in the Aegean.