Balkans | Turning point in the rights struggle of the Turks of Western Thrace: January 29

Trakya University of the Balkans Deputy Assistant Rector. Doctor. Ali Hüseyinoglu pointed out that the struggle of the Turks of Western Thrace for rights on January 29, 1988 was a turning point for the Turks of Western Thrace.

assistant. Doctor. Hüseyinoglu told the Anadolu Agency (AA) that more than 10,000 Turks gathered in Komotini on January 29, 1988 to demand their rights, and that January 29 was declared the “Day of Social Solidarity and National Resistance” because of the struggle.

Hossein Oglu expressed that the first dimension of the struggle was the basic violations of human rights as a result of the policies of pressure, intimidation and discrimination practiced by Greek governments against the Turkish minority since the 1960s. The final ruling of the Greek Court of Cassation to abolish the last two associations in 1987 under the slogan “There are no Turks in Western Thrace” as a result of the series of courts of the Xanthi Turkish Union, Komotini Turkish Youth Union and Western Thrace Turkish Teachers Union, founded in the 1950s, evaluated it.

Expressing that the Greek judiciary’s decision to “deny the Turkish identity” is the “last straw” in the struggle of the Turkish minority for rights, which has been going on for a while, Hüseyinoglu noted that the struggle of the Turkish minority for rights has reached the peak. With human rights violations as well as the denial of ethnic identity:

Hüseyinoglu continued:

“Turkish minority people, together with their compatriots, villagers, youth, women, senior citizens, imams, teachers, Dr. He worked with pioneering names like Sadik Ahmed, Ibrahim Sharif, Mehmet Emin Agha and Ismail Rudoblo. They marched to Komotini on January 29, 1988 and shouted in unison In front of the whole world from the center of Komotini that all practices of injustice and discrimination against them must be ended, that their religious identity is Muslim and their ethnic identity is Turkish, and that they do not want to be treated as second-class citizens who have been subjected to overt or covert discrimination.The main message that was presented in this was The historical march is that no one can deny Turkish identities and that our human rights and basic minority rights that have been violated for decades are now restored.”

The events of January 29, 1990

Hüseyinoğlu said that although the celebrations on the first anniversary of January 29 went smoothly, on January 29, 1990, the second year, companies affiliated with the Turks in Komotini were targeted by Greek fanatical groups.

Recalling that there have been incidents of violence and vandalism against Turkish-owned companies, Hüseyinoglu said:

“The fact that these events took place in central points that were controlled by the Greek security forces, and that although the shops of the Turks and the Greeks were side by side, the material damage occurred only in the shops belonging to the Turks, caused an increase in tension between the Turkish minority and the Greek majority. In Western Thrace After January 29, Greece, which made some changes in its policy towards the Muslim Turkish minority in Western Thrace as a result of internal and external pressure, put an end to its violations, especially against basic human rights.The collective struggle and reaction that emerged played January 29, 1988 played a major role in this change.

Hüseyinoğlu stated that although the rights of Turks stemming from their Greek nationality were restored after the struggle, the problems regarding minority rights arising from being a minority continued for the past 30 years.

Expressing the 150,000-strong Turkish Muslim community in Western Thrace, Greece, Hüseyinoglu concluded his words as follows:

“Although 35 years have passed since January 29, 1988, the Turkish Muslim minority still suffers from chronic and new problems in many areas, from the denial of Turkish ethnic identity to issues related to the administrative committees of the Mufti and the Foundation, from the victims of Article 19 to the bilingual education of minorities Although the solution of these problems by the Greek authorities will contribute to the integration of the Turkish minority community into the Greek majority society without assimilation, we witness that the steps expected by members of the Turkish minority were not taken by Greece, which became a member of the European Union in 1981, in These and similar issues, over the past 30 years.

AA