A call for help from the Turks of Western Thrace to the public: Our rights are being taken away one by one.
Greece closed schools in 12 more Turkish villages, citing austerity measures and the shortage of students.
Western Thrace Turks called for help by stating that their rights were taken away one by one after Greece reduced the number of Turkish schools from 305 to 103. While the Athens administration turned a deaf ear to the reactions from minority institutions and organizations and Ankara, the President of the Western Thrace Turkish Teachers' Union (BTTÖB), Aydın Ahmet, invited the world public to raise their voice against this attitude that disregards international agreements.
While Greece continues to equip Alexandroupoli, near the Turkish border, with US weapons and armored vehicles, it is increasing its pressure on the Turks of Western Thrace in the country. Athens, which has ignored the minority rights guaranteed by the Treaty of Lausanne for years, finally targeted education. Greece closed schools in 12 more Turkish villages, citing austerity measures and the shortage of students. This situation shocked the Turks of Western Thrace. While the Athens administration turned a deaf ear to the reactions from minority institutions and organizations and Ankara, the President of the Western Thrace Turkish Teachers' Union (BTTÖB), Aydın Ahmet, invited the world public to raise their voice against this attitude that disregards international agreements.
Ahmet stated that the Turkish minority of Western Thrace was entrusted to Greece with the Treaty of Lausanne signed in 1923 and that the minority's right to education was also guaranteed in this agreement:
"The minority has been given the right to establish, manage and supervise all kinds of schools and similar educational institutions, and to use their own language freely in these institutions, with the expenses borne by the minority. These rights were strengthened by the Cultural Agreement signed between Turkey and Greece and the Cultural Protocol signed in 1968. However, Greece has taken and continues to take these rights, which are guaranteed by international agreements, from the Turkish minority one by one, with laws, circulars and decrees it has issued unilaterally, far from goodwill."
“OUR FUTURE IS BEING STOLEN”
Stating that minority schools have been closed one by one in recent years due to austerity measures and the shortage of students, BTTÖB President Aydın Ahmet said, "It should be known for sure that minority schools are the future of Western Thrace Turks. The future of the minority is at stake. The number of Turkish schools in Western Thrace, which was 305 on July 24, 1923, when the Treaty of Lausanne was signed, decreased to 103 with the closure of 12 schools. This is how the minority is dissolved. The way for assimilation will be paved by shifting the children of the Turkish minority to Greek public schools. In time, the minority will be finished. We call on the world community for help for the future of the minority against this attitude that disregards international treaties."
The Association of Western Thrace Minority Schools Councilors also criticized Greece's unlawful and arbitrary practices. Councilors claiming that the government has a hidden agenda on minority education, "While reminding once again that our rights, which are guaranteed by international agreements, cannot be violated by regulations introduced as if by fire, we would like to emphasize that we reserve all our legal rights against unlawful regulations," it was stated.