according to greek government there are no turks in western thrace in article may news uiowa edu mau herky cs uiowa edu mau napoleon writes there are treaties signed between greece and turkey which speak about a moslem minority in thraki and not of a turkish minority in thraki the reason they talk about moslems and not about turks is that the majority of these people are not ethnik turks they are pomaks and gypsies oboy this is exciting first you discuss your non existent literature tastes then your fantasies and now your choices of historical revisionism are you related to arromdians of the asala sdpa arf terrorism and revisionism triangle the agreement on the exchange of minorities uses the term turks which demonstrates what is actually meant by the previous reference to muslims the fact that the greek governments also mention the existence of a few thousand non turkish muslims does not change the essential reality that there lives in western thrace a much bigger turkish minority the pomaks are also a muslim people whom all the three nations bulgarians turks and greeks consider as part of themselves do you know how the muslim turkish minority was organized according to the agreements it also proves that the turkish people are trapped in greece and the greek people are free to settle anywhere in the world the greek authorities deny even the existence of a turkish minority they pursue the same denial in connection with the macedonians of greece talk about oppression in addition in the democratic greek parliament passed law no virtually taking over the administration of the vakiflar and other charitable trusts they have ceased to be self supporting religious and cultural entities talk about fascism the greek governments are attempting to appoint the muftus irrespective of the will of the turkish minority as state official although the orthodox church has full authority in similar matters in greece the muslim turkish minority will have no say in electing its religious leaders talk about democracy the government of greece has recently destroyed an islamic convention in komotini such destruction which reflects an attitude against the muslim turkish cultural heritage is a violation of the lausanne convention as well as the so called greek constitution which is supposed to guarantee the protection of historical monuments the government of greece on the other hand is building new churches in remote villages as a complementary step toward hellenizing the region the longstanding use of the adjective turkish in titles and on signboards is prohibited the greek courts have ordered the closure of the turkish teachers association the komotini turkish youth association and the ksanti turkish association on grounds that there are no turks in western thrace such community associations had been active until but they were first told to remove the word turkish on their buildings and on their official papers and then eventually close down this is also the final verdict november of the greek high court helsinki watch a well known human rights group had been investigating the plight of the turkish minority in greece in august their findings were published in a report titled destroying ethnic identity turks of greece the report confirmed gross violations of the human rights of the turkish minority by the greek authorities it says for instance the greek government recently destroyed an islamic convent in komotini such destruction which reflects an attitude against the muslim turkish cultural heritage is a violation of the lausanne convention helsinki watch problems of turks in western thrace continue ankara a a in a page report of the helsinki watch it is stated that the turkish minority in western thrace is still faced with problems and stipulated that the discriminatory policy being implemented by the greek government be brought to an end the report on western thrace emphasized that the greek government should grant social and political rights to all the members of minorities that are equal to those enjoyed by greek citizens and in addition they must recognize the existence of the turkish minority in western thrace and grant them the right to identify themselves as turks newspot may greece isolates west thrace turks the xanthi independent mp ahmet faikoglu said that the greek state is trying to cut all contacts and relations of the turkish minority with turkey pointing out that while the greek minority living in istanbul is called greek by ethnic definition only the religion of the minority in western thrace is considered in an interview with the greek newspaper ethnos he said i am a greek citizen of turkish origin the individuals of the minority living in western trace are also turkish emphasizing the education problem for the turkish minority in western thrace faikoglu said that according to an agreement signed in greece must distribute textbooks printed in turkey in turkish minority schools in western thrace recalling his activities and those of komotini independent mp dr sadik ahmet to defend the rights of the turkish minority faikoglu said in fact we helped greece because we prevented greece the cradle of democracy from losing face before european countries by forcing the greek government to recognize our legal rights on turco greek relations he pointed out that both countries are predestined to live in peace for geographical and historical reasons and said that turkey and greece must resist the foreign powers who are trying to create a rift between them by cooperating adding that in turkey he observed that there was will to improve relations with greece newspot january macedonian human rights activists to face trial in greece two ethnic macedonian human rights activists will face trial in athens for alleged crimes against the greek state according to a court summons no obtained by mils hristos sideropoulos and tashko bulev or anastasios bulis have been charged under greek criminal law for making comments in an athenian magazine sideropoulos and bulev gave an interview to the greek weekly magazine ena on march and said that they as macedonians were denied basic human rights in greece and would field an ethnic macedonian candidate for the up coming greek general election bulev said in the interview i am not greek i am macedonian sideropoulos said in the article that greece should recognise macedonia the allegations regarding territorial aspirations against greece are tales we are in a panic to secure the border at a time when the borders and barriers within the eec are falling the main charge against the two according to the court summons was that they have spread intentionally false information which might create unrest and fear among the citizens and might affect the public security or harm the international interests of the country greece the greek state does not recognise the existence of a macedonian ethnicity there are believed to be between to ethnic macedonians living within greece largely concentrated in the north it is a crime against the greek state if anyone declares themselves macedonian in greece serbia yugoslavia and bulgaria partioned macedonia into three pieces in albania took macedonian villages the part under serbo yugoslav occupation broke away in as the independent republic of macedonia there are million macedonians in the republic in bulgaria in albania and in serbia proper sideropoulos has been a long time campaigner for macedonian human rights in greece and lost his job as a forestry worker a few years ago he was even exiled to an obscure greek island in the mediteranean only pressure from amnesty international forced the greek government to allow him to return to his home town of florina lerin in northern greece aegean macedonia where the majority of ethnic macedonians live balkan watchers see the sideropoulos affair as a show trial in which greece is desperate to clamp down on internal dissent especially when it comes to the issue of recognition for its northern neighbour the republic of macedonia last year the state department of the united states condemned greece for its bad treatment of ethnic macedonians and turks who largely live in western thrace but it remains to be seen if the us government will do anything until the presidential elections are over m i l s rue du craetveld kraatveldstraat orce nikolov brussels belgium skopje macedonia tel fax tel fax modem n acc famibank citibank belgium serdar argic we closed the roads and mountain passes that might serve as ways of escape for the turks and then proceeded in the work of extermination ohanus appressian in soviet armenia today there no longer exists a single turkish soul sahak melkonian
