They continue to provoke the organs of Ankara in our Thrace! What they say:
“During the visit of Prime Minister Mitsotakis to Komotini, the “Turkish” society of Western Thrace was once again ignored!
ABTTF President: We are witnessing that our Prime Minister, who did not meet with the elected representatives of our society during his visit to Komotini, once again ignored our problems by continuing the official policy of the state that denies our society.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Komotini on July 8, 2022. Mitsotakis, who came to Komotini to inaugurate the IGB natural gas pipeline between Greece and Bulgaria, met in the mufti’s garden and appointed members of the foundation’s board of directors, who are not known to the “Turkish” community of Western Thrace, during his visit to the city center.
In a statement during his visit to the center of Komotini, Mitsotakis said that (Western) Thrace is changing faster than the rest of Greece and that it was his father Konstantinos Mitsotakis who actually brought equality before the law to (Western) Thrace, and that he never wanted to forget that. Mitsotakis stated that the whole of (Western) Thrace is an example of harmonious coexistence between Christians and Muslims.
On the subject, Halit Habipoğlu, President of the “Turkish” Federation of European Western Thrace (ABTTF), said: “As in the previous visit of our country’s Prime Minister Mitsotakis to our region in February 2020, we, as a “Turkish” community Western Thrace, which is the majority in the province of Rhodope, we were ignored again! We witnessed that our Prime Minister, who did not meet with the elected representatives of our society during his visit to Komotini, once again ignored our problems by continuing the official negative policy of the state that denies our society.
As “Turks” of Western Thrace, we have been exposed to discrimination in socio-economic life for years. We have experienced specific examples in the last period with the exclusion of the “Turkish” minorities of the Western Thrace press and tobacco producers from the aid for Covid-19.
On the other hand, our country, which has even restricted freedom of expression and closed our associations under the name “Turks”, has not implemented the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights for 14 years and even ignores international law. As a “Turkish” society of Western Thrace, we do not want to hear empty words anymore, we call on our Prime Minister to take immediate steps for the real implementation of equality before the law in our region and the development of our region”!
