Attention! Is Greece taking out its anger on Turks living in Western Thrace?

“If I was asked ‘What is the common characteristic of every individual in Greece, from the garbage collector to the president in the palace,’ I would say ‘Turkey-phobia’.”

I had heard this statement while working on a file about Turkey-Greece relations in the second half of the 1990s by an academic who conducted in-depth research on Greece. It seems as though the same still rings true today.

Regardless of the subject title or development we relate to these statements, we can reach the conclusion that “Yes, this too is a reflex that corresponds to Turkey-phobia.” For example, when they have France backing them, they become impertinent, but when they remember the likelihood of being on their own against Turkey, an air of “panic” kicks in.

Recently, there was an interesting development that reflected the atmosphere of panic that arose with the recurrence of Turkey-phobia. Fully equipped commandos affiliated with the Greek military conducted war drills in the Gökçepınar village in İskeçe (Xanthi), Western Thrace. They were thus threatening the Muslim Turkish minority group residing in Western Thrace.

As we follow the mounting tensions in Turkish-Greek relations through the East Mediterranean, we need to keep one eye on Western Thrace. The Greek administration has been exploiting its sovereignty here for decades. The articles in the Treaty of Lausanne’s on “minorities” are openly being violated; assimilation policies are being implemented to purge the Muslim-Turks living here of their identities.

I have on my desk a report (2019-2020) prepared by the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) on the Violation of the Rights of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace. Before discussing the violations mentioned in the report, some context in necessary:

Turks living in the Western Thrace region comprise of the most important minority group in Greece with a population of 150,000. This corresponds to 55 percent of the population in Gümülcine (Komotini), 45 percent of the population in Xanthi, and 10 percent of the population in the Meriç (Evros) region.

Now for the report on the violation of rights:

Greece does not even recognize the Turks living in Western Thrace as Turks. Let us take a look at the statement made in February – which did not include “Turk” – by Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos during his visit to Western Thrace.

“The Western Thrace minority living in Greece, in the Western Thrace, are Greek Muslims, and this will never change.”

Based on this approach, in other words, just because the minority living there is recognized as Muslims, even if their Turkish identity is not accepted, it should not be assumed that their rights as a Muslim minority are being protected.

The YTB report states:

“In these schools attended by minority students alone, the religious sensitivities of the minority are not looked out for, and furthermore a secret assimilation policy is being implemented by having Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary icons in the classrooms.”

As Greece’s “assimilation” policies in Western Thrace are the most relevant field, it reflects largely through education. It appears that the closing down of schools belonging to the West Thracian Muslim/Turkish minority has become a policy. Very recently eight more primary schools belonging to the minority were shut down. Thus, the number of minority primary schools, which was 231 a quarter of a century ago, dropped to 115.

Furthermore, there are certain new decisions being made these days while the pressures concerning madrasahs and the East Mediterranean crisis continue to escalate. There is a school in Komotini, Madrasah Al-Khairiah. The history of this school, which is equivalent to a high school, dates back to the Ottoman era. It is attended by the Turkish minority, and students are offered science subjects in addition to religious subjects. It is similar to the imam-hatip schools in Turkey, and graduates are able to move onto higher education in different disciplines. A similar school is also located in Xanthi.

Though the Greek administration has been applying pressure on and continuing its intimidating attitude towards these two madrasahs since 2018, it is now pushing the matter to a new stage while tensions in the East Mediterranean are rising. The management staff of the two madrasahs in Komotini and Xanthi were dismissed with the law signed into parliament on July 29, 2020, and published in the official gazette. Moreover, the contracts of teachers working at these madrasahs were terminated.

It is clear that the administration in Athens have never had any good intentions with respect to the Muslim Turks living in Western Thrace. These ill-intentioned policies, which started with the refusal to recognize the identities of the people living there, can lead to greater pressures, intimidation and threats during such times. They are taking out their anger against Turkey on the minorities living in this region. Therefore, while following the tensions between Turkey and Greece through the East Mediterranean, we much always keep one eye firmly on Western Thrace.