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Developmental and Educational Problems in Western Thrace (Greece)

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Developmental and Educational Problems in Western Thrace (Greece) ABTTF WESTERN THRACE TURKS We work for solutions The Turkish Minority in Greece The Turkish Minority of Western Thrace Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) Since July 2006, Federation of Western Thrace Turks in In Western Thrace, which is the name of the region is the highest institution and sole representation of Europe is in Special Consultative Status with the Econo- stretching out from the Turkish border up to Kara- the Turkish immigrants from Western Thrace in Greece mic and Social Council ECOSOC of the United Nations su River, 150 thousand Turks live today. They came who have organized rapidly throughout Germany af- UN, and in May 2007, it has become ordinary member to and settled in the region during the conquests of ter the foundation of the first Western Thrace Turkish of the Federal Union of European Nationalities FUEN. the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. In 1923, with the minority association in 1979 in Giessen. It was founded ABTTF was founded with the aim of proclaiming both Peace Treaty of Lausanne, the minority rights of the- on 28 February 1988 through getting together of 7 mi- in western European countries and in the internatio- se 150 thousand Turks have been guaranteed and the nority associations, and is today the umbrella organiza- nal arena the voice of Western Thrace Turkish minority region has been left to Greece. tion of 30 associations from entire Europe. It operates which is being obliged to live under very severe condi- solely on a non-profit basis. tions, and is active through lobbying for the solution Since the Western Thrace Turks have been living in Infrastructural, of the problems of the Turkish minority before inter- Greece as a minority, it was tried through various in- Developmental and national organizations such as UN, Organization for justices and pressures to compel them to immigrate, Security and Cooperation in Europe OSCE, European and even an assimilation of them in the long term Union EU and Council of Europe CoE. It is the volunta- Educational Problems was aspired. During the 1990‘s, they were apparently ry ambassador of our minority in western Europe, and discriminated; they could not obtain a driving licence lobbies for the solution of its problems. for tractor in order to cultivate their lands, repair For this purpose, ABTTF publishes newsletters, bulletins, their defective roofs of their homes, acquire real es- pamphlets, periodicals and reports related to our mino- tates and were not even allowed to benefit from ba- rity and the current developments in Western Thrace in sic rights like right of citizenship. Till the Article 19 of the languages of Turkish, English, German and Greek, the Greek Citizenship Law was abolished in 1998, the and these are then provided and submitted to the in- Xanthi persons of “non-Greek ethnic origin” to had gone ab- Rhodope Evros formation and attention of the concerning institutions, road for a long time, sometimes even for a short time, international governmental and non-governmental or- ganizations, media and academic and political persons were deprived of their Greek citizenship through an such as MPs in the European Parliament. Furthermore, administrative decision. Again, until the mid 1990‘s, ABTTF organizes activities in order to satisfy the so- the minority was condemned to live isolated through cial needs of Turkish immigrants from Western Thrace the application of a “military zone” against the so- living in western European countries, and undertakes called “communist infiltrations.” In 1923, the Western also many social activities in order to bring the Wes- Thrace Turks formed the most populated ethnic group tern Thrace Turks together. Evening meals organized with a population number of 129 thousand, and pos- by ABTTF with the support of the member associations sessed 84% of the lands in the region. Although they during the months of Ramadan, and the traditional as an agrarian community possessed high rate of po- “Dr. Sadik Ahmet Football Tournament”, which is or- pulation, they could not demonstrate a population in- ganized every year during the summer months, are the crease due to the continuous emigration, and possess T A Ü Y R ABTTF K K main ones of these social activities. In order to present A F R E T today only 30% of the lands. Although the Western D I Avrupa Batı Trakya Türk Federasyonu T E the problems of our minority scholarly, the existing stu- A R B A Thrace Turks have begun to benefit from the basic ci- Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe S dies are being carried on, and preparatory works of an A Y P O U tizenship rights parallel to the increasing importance Föderation der West-Thrakien Türken in Europa N R academic publication are being also further continued. U V A Ευρωπαϊκή Ομοσπονδία Τούρκων Δυτικής Θράκης of the minority rights in the new era in Europe and in • Moreover, news about Greece and Western Thrace pu- 1988 • blished in the Turkish newspapers in Europe are being the world, and through intensifying foreign pressures ABTTF Wemerstraße 2 · 58454 Witten / Germany archived by the Press Office of the ABTTF in order to on Greece, in the field of minority rights, which have Tel.: +49 2302 91 32 91 · Fax: +49 2302 91 32 93 provide them to the experts dealing with this subject, been guaranteed by the Peace Treaty of Lausanne Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe E-Mail: [email protected] and a monthly news bulletin announcing the activities and other international treaties, no improvement has www.abttf.org NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations of ABTTF to the public audience is published. been able to be achieved till now. Member of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) ABTTF | Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe ABTTF | Info-Folder for more information: www.abttf.org INFRASTRUCTURE EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT SOLUTION Western Thrace Turkish Minority Region What has to be done Western Thrace is one of the most underdeveloped The Turkish minority of Western Thrace encounters As a consequence of the policies implemented by The investments have to be distributed well-pro- regions in the European Union serious problems in the field of education Greece, the Turkish minority is underdeveloped portioned and without discrimination to all regions and disadvantaged in every aspect in Greece. This is the only measure in order to create The regional development funds of Although the Turkish minority new jobs and to increase the living standards of the the European Union (EU) destined of Western Thrace is granted As a result of the oppressive Turkish minority of Western Thrace. for Western Thrace do not reach with the right to have educati- policies of the Greek state their destinations in their fully ex- on in its native language, and since the 1970’s, the Turkish In order to overcome the problems with regard to tent. Particularly, with regard to the it does have an autonomy in minority of Western Thrace infrastructure in regions with Turkish population, the funds received for the development the management of its educa- has been suffering serious- corresponding projects and financial aids should be of infrastructure, double standards tional institutions by the Treaty ly in the fields of develop- granted to the Turkish municipalties. are applied. of Lausanne signed between ment, infrastructure, local Greece and Turkey in 1923, and governments, education In the field of education, improvements have to Thus, the Turkish minority of Wes- by the bilateral educational ag- and culture. Financial aids be achieved by complying with the righths granted by tern Thrace and residential areas reements, the Educational Agreement (1951) and the from the EU-funds for families living from agriculture bilateral and international agreements to the Turkish with high Turkish population do Cultural Protocol (1968), it is subjected to pressure in and stock farming bear temporary and insufficient so- minority. not profit sufficiently from the regional development the field of education. lutions. Despite these financial aids, annual average in- funds granted by the EU for Western Thrace. come of a family of five persons is less than 10,000 €. In villages and towns with Turkish population, There is no single kinder- kindergartens for Turkish minority children, in which garten in Western Thrace, Especially the residential the education language is Turkish, have to be estab- in which Turkish minority areas and municipalities lished urgently. The administration and management children are educated in with high Turkish popu- of these kindergartens has to be left to the local go- their native language. Alt- lation suffer serious pri- vernments. hough the administration vations of infrastructure. of kindergartens in general Only a few Turkish muni- Teachers, who dispose of Turkish language skills are subordinated to the lo- cipalities have a sewage and a corresponding educational background, have Yanıköy Village, cal governments, the Tur- system. Komotini, 10 km to be assigned to those Turkish minority schools. kish municipalities have been deprived of this autho- rity. There are only two secondary schools, where The roads in the villages are mostly gravel or dirt In regions, where The Turkish minority is densely the education is in Turkish. That is why many Turkish roads, and are needed to be asphalted. Today, about 90% of the rural Turkish population live populated, libraries, cinemas and theatres, which are minority children have to continue their secondary from agriculture, mostly from tobacco production. It easily accessible for the public, have to be opened. school education at other schools, where education is Althoug there is urgent need for new bridges, const- is still unclear how they are supposed to ensure their Only by these means, it is ensured that the public, in only in Greek.
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