Discrimination Against the Greek Inhabitants of the Turkish Islands of Imbros and Tenedos
P U BLI C
Conseil UE WRITTEN QUESTION P-3617/03 put by Ioannis Marinos (PPE-DE) to the Council
Subject: Discrimination against the Greek inhabitants of the Turkish islands of Imbros and Tenedos
For three thousand years the islands of Imbros and Tenedos have been inhabited by ethnic Greeks. In 1923 they were handed over to Turkey under the Treaty of Lausanne on the understanding under Article 14 that the islands would be given a special administrative organisation composed of local elements and that every guarantee would be provided for the native non-Muslim population in respect of local administration and the protection of persons and property. The maintenance of order would be ensured by a police force recruited from amongst the local population by the local administration referred to above and placed under its orders.
According to an official Turkish survey, in 1927 Imbros was inhabited by 7 000 Greeks and a negligible number of Turks while Tenedos was inhabited by 2 500 Greeks and 1 247 Turks. Today 250 Greeks remain on Imbros while 9000 Turkish nationals have settled there. Only 30 Greeks have remained on Tenedos and the Greek Government has changed the official names by which they were known for millennia to "Gokceasa" and "Bozcaada" respectively. The policy of repression was stepped up after 1955, and continued in 1964, culminating in 1974, the year of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
The Turkish Government never implemented the provisions of Article 14 of the Treaty of Lausanne and the teaching of Greek ceased after the six Greek primary schools, the secondary school and the four day-nurseries catering for 1300 pupils and built with funding from the Greek communities of the two islands were appropriated by the Turkish Government. The same thing happened to the 300 Christian churches and four monasteries situated in the islands. Such practices are only encountered in countries following a hardline apartheid policy. Pressure on Greeks to leave the islands of Imbros and Tenedos culminated with the confiscation of their property and, significantly, those who were forced to leave forfeited their Turkish nationality and with it any rights to their property which they could not pass on to their descendants. It is also significant that the results of a survey carried out by the Turkish property registration authorities and announced after 23 June 2003, showed that in the village of Agridia on the island of Imbros for example (which until recently was the only remaining village inhabited and owned by Greeks alone) 77.18% of the total area belonging to its inhabitants has devolved to the Turkish State while only 22.82% now remains in the hands of the original owners.
Are such actions appropriate to a country applying for accession to the EU and claiming to be "coming into line" with European Union principles? Will the EU call for the immediate and effective reinstatement of property rights for all members of the Turkish non-Muslim population prior to setting a date for the commencement of pre-accession negotiations?
______
7044/04 thy/PT/kr 1 JUR EN REPLY to Written Question P-3617/03 put by Ioannis MARINOS
1. The Council is well aware of the situation of ethnic Greeks on the islands of Imbros and Tenedos and of the obligations Turkey has under the Lausanne Treaty as regards the protection of non-muslim minorities.
2. The Council expects all countries aspiring to EU membership to respect international law and their treaty obligations in the field of human and minority rights. This is being constantly made clear to Turkey and is also reflected in the revised Turkey accession partnership by the relevant priority, requesting Turkey to "comply with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms".
3. The EU is keeping the matter under close review and is following it up with Turkey.
7044/04 thy/PT/kr 1 JUR EN