The Turkish Muslim minority in Greece’s Western Thrace region is alarmed about the rise of far-right parties in the country after the European Parliament elections.
While the EP election results don’t affect the general political course of Greece as much as expected, the rising trend of far-right politics is still a reality, Cemil Kabza, a Western Thracian reporter for Millet News, told Anadolu Agency (AA).
“Should this trend continue, it’s likely no party will be able to rule alone in the upcoming general elections; parties will resort to a coalition and this coalition will include extremist parties,” Kabza explained.
“This would impact the Muslim Turkish minority in Western Thrace the most, as it would other minorities and the entire country.”
Kabza believes the issue could also affect the recent rapprochement between Greece and its archrival Türkiye.
“The Muslim Turkish minority of Greece really wants Turkish-Greek relations to be good. When ties are cordial, our community here is more comfortable, too,” he said.
Greece's Western Thrace region is home to around 150,000 Turks. The community often complains of double standards and continuing inequalities in the country, namely socioeconomic discrimination, 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.
Preliminary results from the EP elections showed a shift to the right, with the far-right Alternative for Germany party currently in second place among the 720 lawmakers elected by voters in the 27 EU countries on Monday.
In Greece, the European People's Party won seven seats and the Left gained four. The "Socialists and Democrats" coalition won three seats, while the European conservatives and reformists each won two, with independents taking two seats.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is considering a Cabinet reshuffle after his center-right New Democracy (ND) party saw significant lost support in last week’s EU elections, down from 40% in last year’s general elections to 28%.
Turnout in Greece was 41.3%, compared to 58.6% in the EP elections of 2019. Many cite the economic crisis, unemployment and instability as the main causes of voter abstention, as well as the many leaving for Greek islands for seasonal work or holidays.
Kabza pointed out the increase in votes for the far-right Greek Solution party as opposed to the sharp decline in support for Greece’s top three parties – Mitsotakis’ ruling ND, main opposition Syriza and socialist Pasok.
“This surge in far-right could be an obstacle to taking joint decisions regarding the EU's future, economy, human rights, refugees and foreign policy,” he argued. “Moreover, racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia will deepen their roots in Europe. This will hurt the respect of differences in faith, language and race, or the understanding of the provision of equal rights to EU citizens.”
Kabza, however, welcomed the “great success” of the Party of Friendship, Equality and Peace (DEB) in the EP elections.
The DEB Party, founded in 1991 by Sadık Ahmet, a Greek doctor of Turkish ethnicity, garnered 36% support in the Rhodopes and 27% in Xanthi (Iskeçe), both Turkish majority districts in Western Thrace.
“The Turkish minority here who have lost all hope in Greece’s political system or parties came together around the DEB party and asserted their existence in Greece and Europe,” Kabza noted.
The DEB Party, which earned votes from all 51 provinces of Greece, also joined forces with other minority groups by nominating prominent Macedonian figure Eugenia Natsoulidou as a lawmaker.
While the DEB Party’s success made headlines in Greece, it was also met with calls from far-right circles for its closure.
“The times are changing and DEB, Western Thrace is coming out of its shell,” party’s co-chair Çiğdem Asafoğlu said.
“We will continue fighting for the rights of all oppressed minorities, especially the Turkish community whose identity Greece is denying,” Asafoğlu told AA.
“The hardships we face are, of course, saddening, but it pushes us to work harder,” she said.
DEB aims to breach the 3% threshold Greece has recently enforced, preventing the party from sending lawmakers to the European Parliament and the national assembly.
Asafoğlu attributed the drop in support for Mitsokakis’ ND party to its “bad management” and “wrong policies,” which she said also “contributed to the rise of the far-right.”
“This increase is alarming for both Greece and Europe,” she said, recalling an attack on a DEB Party event in Athens, as well as threats via social media or phone calls.
She also accused Greek media of “demonizing” the DEB Party as a threat and refusing to recognize it with “its own identity.”
