|
NGOs
welcome the fact that, yesterday, for the first time ever -at home or
abroad – Greece acknowledged that the restricted zone in Thrace
continues to exist. Until now, Greece had repeatedly and misleadingly
claimed it was abolished.
Greece
informed therefore this forum that there are areas where Greek
citizens can go in-and out of- freely, but all foreigners need
a special permission, by the Ministry of Defense we will add. So, this
is an area where Greece discriminates even between EU citizens,
contrary to its related commitments. On this, we call upon the French
presidency of the EU to inform this forum whether this de jure
discrimination is acceptable.
Moreover,
unlike what Greece said yesterday, the restricted zone is not a border
zone. It is over 10 km wide and it includes dozens of mountain
villages and dwelling units which have one thing in common: they are
inhabited by members of the –mostly Turkish- minority. Greek
populated mountain villages in the same area are not included
in the minority zone. So, it is easy to guess what is the purpose of
the zone.
Greece
also said that all foreigners but the Turkish journalists this year
have been asking for permits to visit Europe’s last
"enclave." This is not correct: our own NGO visited the zone
twice this year with people having European or North American
passports. Permits were not requested, nor were we stopped by anyone.
Only
the Turkish journalists, holders of a Greek state permit to film their
documentary, were stopped. We confirm that they were not simply turned
back, but held by police for a couple of hours. Indeed they were told
that they could apply for a permit, but, also, that they had to wait
for 2-3 days to have it issued. This is why they opted not to apply
for it and left.
Finally,
this restricted zone is even wider for foreign diplomats visiting the
area. It includes Xanthi campus of the University of Thrace, just ten
minutes away from that city’s center. We wonder if there is any
other university in an OSCE country, which in order to visit foreign diplomats
require obtaining a permit.
The
Greek delegation gave yesterday some data about the alleged ethnic
composition of Thrace, claiming they come from the 1991 census.
Regrettably, this is a deliberate inaccuracy. Questions about mother
tongue and religion have been removed from the Greek censuses after
1951. So, the alleged 1991 figure Greece refers to is an arbitrary
"estimate." While the internal breakdown among Turks, Pomaks
and Roma is of course not based on self-identification but on Greek
government’s decision to refer to such figures in order to serve its
propaganda. If Greece really wants to count the minority and its
ethnic composition, it has to introduce appropriate questions in the
2001 census.
Besides,
Greece could ask Bulgaria and Macedonia for information about how
muftis are elected by the Muslims in these countries, and try to adopt
either procedure to satisfy the demands of Greece’s Muslims. Such
consultation would also help Greece avoid claiming inaccurately that
muftis are not elected anywhere in non-Muslim countries.
|
