OSCE
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Freedom of Religion

Vienna, 22 March 1999

By Mr N. Hasanoglu and Dr Z. Emin
Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe

Before going any further we would like to point out an important fact: the fact that ourselves and the community we represent being very lawful citizens of an European Union country, i.e. Greece. Although the human rights violations faced by the Turkish Minority are enormous we will mainly focus on the freedom of religion issue as the name of this meeting suggests.

The minority rights of the Western Thrace Turks were fixed and guaranteed by the Lausanne Treaty of 1923. In the political section under the heading of «Protection of the Minorities», Section I, Chapter III, Articles 37 to 45 determine the rights of the Western Thrace Turks and decree that no other law can be passed over the above articles. The 1913 Athens Treaty and the Greek Sevres Treaty dated 10 August 1920 include similar provisions in detail. The Athens Treaty contains specific, detailed decrees regarding the election of the Muftis and the bodies responsible for the management and administration of religious foundations. According to these treaties, Western Thrace Turks will have the right to establish and manage their cultural, educational and religious institutions. In 1920, Greece put into effect the Law No: 2345 for the implementation of the provisions of the Treaty of Athens regarding the elections of the Muftis and the administrative body of the religious foundations.

Allow us to introduce the current practices in Greece, a country which is often referred to as the «cradle of civilisation»:

1. In 1990, in violation of the provisions of the Treaty of Athens, Greece promulgated a Presidential Decree which envisaged the abrogation of the Law No: 2345 and the appointment of Muftis by the governors of the provinces. Rejecting these appointments, the Turkish Community elected Ibrahim Serif to Gümülcine (Komotini) and Mehmet Emin Aga to Iskeçe (Xanthi) as their Muftis according to Law No: 2345. The Greek government took these Muftis before the court of justice and, prosecuted them with «Pretence of Authority» for violation of article 175, paragraph 2, of the Penal Code. These prosecutions were rightfully noticed by the most recent report of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights: «The prosecution of Mehmet Emin Aga is certainly the most outrageous recent case of violation of the human rights of an individual in Greece.» As of today Mr Aga’s total imprisonment has reached to over than 100 months by the First Instance Courts and following appeals these sentences were reduced to some 70 months. As a result of his finalised convictions Mr Aga has spent six months in prison and the rest was bought off at considerable financial cost. As we speak of Mr Aga it is rather coincidence that he will appear before the Single-Member Court of Seres in less than 48 hours regarding two messages released on two different Islamic holidays on January 30 and December 21, 1997. As for the elected Mufti of Gumulcine (Komotini), Ibrahim Serif, he was also accused under the same legality and sentenced to 8 months, reduced to 6 following appeals. His further appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected. Following this he applied to the European Court of Human Rights, the application was accepted on the grounds of Article 9, and a provisional decision was taken regarding violation. On the election of Muftis the Greek government’s argument might well be the fact that apart from the judicial opinions, the Muftis are also involved in legal decisions concerning personal and family matters of the Turkish Community and therefore should be appointed by the government. They might refer to the appointment of Muftis in Turkey, which is true but with one exemption: Turkey is a secular state. The comparison does not hold.

2. In the case of Muftis, the Greek authorities unilaterally appoint the board of administration of the religious foundations in line with the application of the Junta since 1967 against the clear provisions of Article 12 of the Treaty of Athens and the implementation of Law No: 2345. Since 1967 many legislative acts, such as the Law No: 1091, were passed that would disperse the foundations of the Turkish Community with the purpose of destroying them completely. Today, the foundations are run by those who are controlled by the Muftis, who themselves are appointed by the Greek administration.

3. The extension of Koyunkoy (Kimmeria) village mosque is another novel example of religious freedom in Greece. The extension was granted in 1996 but the works were later stopped and the imam was arrested together with four workers under the act of building violations, their cases still continuing. In mid 1997 the completion of the works were restarted. However there was no permission to build a minaret, reinforcing the fact that the whole issue was politically motivated rather than a mere violation of the act concerning buildings. The issue was also brought to the attention of the Minister of Public Order with no reply being received. Following this the Turkish residents of Koyunkoy took the liberty of applying to the High Court where the case will be heard on 21 September 1999. Similar cases experienced in Bratankova and Asagi Mahalle mosques of Xanthi are pending in the courts.

4. Another striking example of targeted violation of religious freedom by the Greek authorities is the taxation of earnings of the Turkish-Muslim clergymen teaching Koran as part of religious education. These religious educational activities are regarded as special profitable establishments and from 1984 onwards they are subjected to corporate tax. Four clergymen teaching in these courses were banned travelling abroad and their belongings were also confiscated since they refused to pay any tax on this matter. One of them later accepted to pay his part but the other three decided to take the matter into the courts with no tangible result. The authorities continue to send them the same tax bill with new ones added annually.

5. The formation of an association by some 30 Turkish-Muslim clergymen under the name of «Association of Clergymen in Western Thrace Mosques» has been rejected three times since 1995 based on the grounds that the name had the word «Western Thrace» and that the clergymen will attempt to undertake the duties of the appointed Muftis. The Greek authorities argue that there is no Western Thrace in Greece but only one Thrace. It is rather ironic that they seem to like playing with words: first with Turkish, now with Western Thrace and next who knows what? After three rejections the issue was taken to the High Court, the case was heard this past January with no decision yet taken.

6. The latest innovation on religious freedom violation is the announcement of the introduction of a special monthly financial benefit by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece. According to this only the Christian-Orthodox families in Western Thrace who will give birth to a third child will receive a financial benefit to overcome the region’s major demographic problem. This is one of the examples of how the Greek Orthodox Church directly influences the decision makers on the Western Thrace Turkish-Muslim Minority.

In summary, the Greek government does not fulfil its obligations arising from the Treaty of Lausanne. Not only it violates the freedom of religion but also denies the ethnic identity of the minority based on the use of term «Muslim» in the treaty. Any intellectual can deduce that religion is not an ethnic identity but an expression of faith. In this context Greece does not meet the European Union standards.

Instead of practising oppressive and discriminatory policies against the Turkish Community, and insisting on having the right to appoint religious leaders, the Greek government should fulfil its obligations arising from the Treaty of Lasaunne as well as international conventions, namely the 1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on religion or Belief, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Helsinki Final Act.

In a recent statement released by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights a quotation from the Executive Director Aaron Rhodes is of great importance regarding the freedom of religion; "Unfair treatment of religious minorities expresses and increases the latent tendencies toward chauvinism and intolerance, which threaten pluralism and political stability in the region".

In conclusion Greece cannot be considered to have complied with its international obligations in this respect until it repeals all laws which prohibit the Turkish population from choosing their own religious leaders and managing the affairs of their own religious foundations.