Greece closing 4 extra main colleges belonging to the Western Thracian Turkish minority within the 2022-2023 tutorial yr was met with concern by the Turkish neighborhood within the area.
Aydın Ahmet, the chair of the Western Thrace Turkish Lecturers’ Union and Ozan Ahmetoğlu, the chair of the Iskeçe (Xanthi) Turkish Union, made assessments to Anadolu Company (AA) on the problem.
Stating that the Western Thracian Turkish minority has many issues that await options when it comes to training, Ahmet famous that the most important discomfort felt is that the Greek state makes choices concerning the training of the minority with out consulting the minority for his or her opinion.
Ahmet said that the apply of closing colleges in case the variety of college students stays under 9, which is legitimate all through Greece, has led to a severe lower within the variety of minority colleges.
He underlined that the variety of minority main colleges in Western Thrace decreased to 99 after the final implementations.
Mentioning that Greece has to this point ignored the objections of the minority on this difficulty, he stated: “Our colleges are closed one after the other yearly on the pretext of an absence of youngsters. Nevertheless, our colleges are non-public and autonomous based on the Treaty of Lausanne. Due to this fact, it’s approached with an understanding of ‘we’re closing our personal colleges, we can not go away your colleges whereas closing our personal.’ Nevertheless, the state of affairs in our colleges may be very totally different.”
Ahmet said that Greece didn’t contemplate the opinion of the minority on any difficulty associated to the minority. “Our largest objection is that our opinion is just not taken within the choices concerning minority colleges. It bothers us very a lot that the state makes choices about minority colleges with out asking us. In different phrases, we search the opinion of the minority is taken into account not solely within the area of training, but in addition in different points, invite them to a desk, interact in dialogue. We’re on the aspect of fixing the issues, however sadly we have now not seen such an method from Greece up till now.”
As each Ahmet and Ahmetoğlu famous, the Lausanne Peace Treaty envisages instructional autonomy for the Western Thracian Turkish minority. Minority colleges present bilingual training in each Turkish and Greek.
It’s noticed that the variety of minority main colleges within the area has decreased from 231 to 99 within the final 27 years. Two colleges, one in Xanthi and the opposite in Komotini (Gümülcine), present secondary and highschool training.
Turkey has condemned Greece’s determination of closing 4 extra main colleges belonging to the Turkish Muslim minority in Western Thrace for the 2022/2023 college yr.
“With this newest determination, greater than half of the minority main colleges have been closed. Thus, Greece’s coverage of closing main colleges belonging to the Turkish Muslim Minority in Western Thrace by means of ‘momentary suspension’ has confirmed to be systematic,” Tanju Bilgiç, the International Ministry’s spokesperson, stated in an announcement.
Bilgiç reiterated the Turkish minority’s proper to determine, handle and examine their very own colleges beneath the Treaty of Lausanne signed in 1923, which ultimately paved the way in which for an impartial Turkish republic.
He stated the current strikes present the “discriminatory and oppressive insurance policies” carried out towards the Turkish minority within the area of training.
Bilgiç had additionally urged Greece to place an finish to its discriminatory insurance policies towards Turkish minority colleges yr after yr, including: “The Republic of Turkey will proceed to assist the minority’s battle for its rights and justice, each in bilateral contacts and worldwide platforms.”
In response, Athens launched an announcement claiming: “Sadly, Ankara has totally reversed actuality as soon as once more so as to promote positions that don’t stand as much as scrutiny. We reject them of their entirety. We underscore that the choice to droop the operation of colleges is taken making use of precisely the identical standards all through Greece, that’s the non-completion of a minimal variety of 9 (9) college students. For the tutorial yr 2022-2023, solely within the Area of Jap Macedonia-Thrace, along with the 4 (4) minority main colleges, the operation of twenty-nine (29) different non-minority main colleges is suspended as nicely. Due to this fact, nobody can declare discrimination towards minority college students.”
In a video message on the 99th anniversary of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan additionally stated Sunday that Greece has just lately been intentionally eroding the phrases and circumstances of the peace treaty.
“The phrases and circumstances of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, notably the rights of the Turkish minority, have just lately been intentionally eroded by Greece,” he stated.
“It isn’t potential for our nation to just accept this case, which is incompatible with the precept of excellent neighborly relations and loyalty to the treaty,” he added.
The Lausanne treaty was signed on July 24, 1923, after the Turkish victory within the Struggle of Independence.
Greece’s Western Thrace area is house to some 150,000 Muslim Turks, whose rights to elect their very own spiritual leaders, discovered Turkish associations and have their very own colleges have been denied by Athens in violation of European courtroom orders.
