ABTTF IN ADVOCATING RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF THE TURKISH COMMUNITY IN WESTERN THRACE, GREECE Compilation of Statements, Submissions, Contributions and Interventions by ABTTF and Right of Reply Texts and Statements/Comments by Greece at OSCE Meetings 2005-2020 FEDERATION OF WESTERN THRACE TURKS IN EUROPE NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations Member of the Fundamental Rights Platform (FRP) of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Member of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) ABTTF IN ADVOCATING RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF THE TURKISH COMMUNITY IN WESTERN THRACE, GREECE Compilation of Statements, Submissions, Contributions and Interventions by ABTTF and Right of Reply Texts and Statements/Comments by Greece at OSCE Meetings 2005-2020 ABTTF Publishing - Witten, 2021 1 Title ABTTF IN ADVOCATING RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF THE TURKISH COMMUNITY IN WESTERN THRACE, GREECE Compilation of Statements, Submissions, Contributions and Interventions by ABTTF and Right of Reply Texts and Statements/Comments by Greece at OSCE Meetings 2005-2020 Publishing Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) Wemerstr. 2 D-58454 Witten Germany Tel.: +49 (0) 2302 913291 Fax: +49 (0) 2302 913293 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.abttf.org Cover Design, Layout & Printing by ABTTF First Edition © ABTTF, March 2021 © Copyright Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF). Requests for permission to make copies of any part of this publication should be sent directly to ABTTF. 2 Table of Contents Foreword …………………………………………………………………………………….5 OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meetings and Supplementary Human Dimension Meetings …………………………………………………………………….7-258 Other OSCE Meetings/Conferences ………………………………………………. 259-322 OSCE/ODIHR Hate Crime Reports ...……………………………………………... 323-367 3 4 Foreword Our struggle began in 1986 when three of our associations were closed down following the removal of their signboards as the word ‘Turkish’ was in their names on grounds that there are no Turks in Greece. We showed to those who are denying our very existence that we are Turks by taking to the streets as thousands on 29 January 1988 and shouting that ‘We are Turks’. Following this landmark day and as the Turkish community in Western Thrace who had emigrated to Germany, and thanks to the unification of the associations we had founded, we established the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) on 28 February 1988 in order to make our voices heard at the international level. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has constituted an important platform with respect to our activities at the international level for our Federation which was set up with the aim of being a voice of Western Thrace Turks abroad. Indeed, the OSCE is tackling the concept of security from a broad perspective through its political-military, economic, environmental and human dimensions. With this approach, the OSCE is a considerably effective actor in building trust between the states. From a human dimension, the OSCE provides support, assistance and expertise to participating states and civil society in democracy, the rule of law, human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination. In this respect, our organisation participates in all meetings relating to the human dimension organized by the OSCE and expresses the discriminatory practices faced by our Turkish community in Western Thrace in the areas listed above. In doing so, our main goal is to lead our lives within the framework of the rights and freedoms we have by ensuring the return of our autonomy with respect to education and religion that is guaranteed by international treaties. In addition to the human dimension, we attach special importance to participating in the thematic meetings organized by the Office of the High Commissioner in the field of minority rights and making the voice of our community heard in dialogue with the OSCE Office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities. Our organisation is a peaceful non-governmental organisation that is strictly bound to fundamental rights and freedoms. As an NGO that is based on the principle of transparency, and by compiling all of the statements we presented to the United Nations to this day, we have wished to share this work with all those having an interest in it as it constitutes a valuable archive. I wish you a pleasant read, Halit HABİP OĞLU ABTTF President Witten, March 2021 5 6 OSCE HUMAN DIMENSION IMPLEMENTATION MEETINGS AND SUPPLEMENTARY HUMAN DIMENSION MEETINGS 7 OSCE 2005 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting Warsaw, Poland 19-30 September 2005 Statement by Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe Working Session l: Democratic Institutions Main contact person(s): Mr. Özkan Reşit, Mr. K. Engin Soyyılmaz E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Dear President, dear audience, My name is Özkan Reşit, and I am present here to represent the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) having its headquarters in Germany. My institution is the umbrella organization of 29 associations founded by the Turkish minority members, who had to immigrate from the region of Western Thrace in the north-western of Greece due to economic and political reasons and carries out activities principally to defend the rights of our minority in the international arena. In my speech, I will talk about the ongoing problems of the Western Thrace Turks, who were deprived of the Greek citizenship until 1998 by my country Greece, a member of the European Union (EU), as soon as they went abroad, and due to the reason that they possessed another ethnic origin. According to the official Statement by the Greek Interior Ministry, till today, 46,638 Western Thrace and 12 Islands’ Turks were deprived of their Greek citizenship by Greece through administrative decisions due to the reasons that ‘they were not from the Greek ethnic origin’ and ‘they had left the country without having the intention to return’. The Article 19 of the Greek Citizenship Bill, which was the legal foundation of this practice, existed as a racist judgement till 1998 within the national law of an EU member country in spite of all reactions it received. The Article comprised the parents or very small children, and among the victims of it, there have been many Western Thrace Turks, who went to Turkey with the aim of education, or to Germany with the aim of working. The tragicomic application of the Article victimised even the ones performing their military service in the Greek army. A part of the victims has to live deprived of entire social rights in Western Thrace within the borders of Greece. Since 1998, any other deprivation of the citizenship has not occurred. However, the abolishment of the Article has not been retrospective. Art. 19 of the Greek Citizenship Bill was under the protection of the Constitution. Therefore, there was no possibility to abolish the Article with the claim that the Article was contrary to the Constitution. On the other hand, till 8 today, any serious political solution has not been able to be produced for 46,638 persons deprived of their citizenships. The decision of deprivation of the Greek citizenship came to know merely in the consulates, or at the entries to the country at the borders. Therefore, the time to undertake a legal action against the decision was usually long since over for many victims of the Article. It is almost impossible for the ones living outside of the Western Thrace to sue against the Article due the difficulty of pursuing the action. The minority members living in the Western Thrace cannot fully participate to the economic activities. This, and that the financial inconvenience such a legal process would burden the retired minority members make it really hard to undertake legal actions against Art. 19. Dear audience, Today, there are many of our people living in ‘stateless status’ in Greece, Turkey, Western Europe and even in Australia. A part of the minority members in stateless status in Greece have been renationalized. However, I want to stress again that our people, who have been deprived of the Greek citizenship unjustifiably, are being treated so, if it was of their blame. These persons, who have been deprived of the citizenship without their own will, are being treated the same as the foreigners, who have come to the country and settled down. From the oath ceremony to the bureaucratic details, the naturalization process for them is accurate the same as the process for the ones, who have entered Greece for the first time. There is no need to explain that this application is quite derogatory for our people, who have always been loyal to their country, but for all that, they have been deprived of the Greek citizenship, although they did not commit any blameworthy act. The concerning people, who cannot get their retirement salaries in payment for the retirement premiums they paid, benefit from the social rights, participate fully to the economic activities and obtain any passport, or travel document, face very big problems. These problems are explicitly contrary to the articles in the III., IV. And V. Chapters of the United Nations (UN) ‘Agreement on the Status of Stateless Persons’ dated 1954. The state of the Citizenship Bill victims, who live outside of Greece, especially in Turkey, is as tragicomic as this. In this context, it is worth to mention here, what Erdogan Hekim Ahmet had to experience. He could not see her mother for the last time in her deathbed, since he could not get an entry visa for Greece.