Greece suppresses fundamental rights of Western Thrace Muslims
ATHENS, OCT 19: Greek authorities
suppress the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Muslim Turkish minority in
Western Thrace, the elected mufti (Muslim scholar and legal expert) of Xanthi
(Iskece) has said.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ahmet
Mete said the heads of the Muslim Turkish minority in Western Thrace are
"threatened and insulted."
Noting that the mufti institution
in Western Thrace was regulated by the principles in the Treaty of Lausanne, he
said the Greek authorities did not give the rights to the minority group it was
entrusted to.
The appointment of muftis by
Greek authorities weaken the position of muftis in Western Thrace, he said,
adding that a man with a primary school degree was appointed to the position in
Xanthi.
Mete said the Islamic clerics
have an important role for the unity and solidarity of the minority in the
region, adding that they will continue their "rightful struggle"
against moves that divide the society.
Mete and his predecessor Mehmet
Emin Aga have previously been convicted by Greek courts for usurping authority.
The Western Thrace region of
Greece is home to a Muslim Turkish minority of around 150,000 people, where
muftis have legal jurisdiction to decide on the family and inheritance matters
in the local community.
The issue of mufti elections has
been a long-standing problem for the group since 1991.
The election of muftis by Muslims
in Greece was regulated in the 1913 Treaty of Athens with the Ottoman Empire
and was later included in Greek law. Greece, however, annulled the law in 1991
and started appointing muftis itself.
The majority of Muslim Turks in the cities of Komotini and Xanthi do not recognize the appointed muftis and instead elect their own, who are not recognized by the Greek state.
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Courtesy anews
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