Türkiye on Sunday “strongly” condemned an attack on a Turkish cemetery in Greece’s Western Thrace region.
"We have taken note of the statement made by the Greek Secretary General at the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs on this heinous incident, stating that an investigation has been initiated,” Tanju Bilgiç, a spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"We expect the Greek authorities to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice as soon as possible, to ensure that they receive the punishment they deserve and to clarify the reasons behind the incident," Bilgiç noted.
His remarks came after some 20 tombstones in the cemetery of the Turkish minority in the village of Polianthos (Narlıköy) were damaged by unidentified people over the weekend.
"We convey our condolences to our kinsmen living in Narlıköy and share their sorrow,” Bilgiç said. “The fact that even the cemeteries of Muslims are being targeted as part of the increasing Islamophobia across Europe demonstrates the importance and urgency of the struggle to defend our common human values.”
Türkiye calls on Greece to take the necessary measures in this direction, to prevent similar acts in the future, and to ensure the peace and security of the Turkish minority of Western Thrace, he added.
The Friendship Equality and Peace Party, a party popular with the Turkish minority community, on Sunday also denounced the incident in a statement on Facebook, calling on the Greek authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Ibrahim Şerif, head of the Consultative Committee of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace, said the incident was reported to police while visiting the cemetery following the attack,
Şerif, who is also the elected mufti of Komotini (Gümülcine), expressed his hope that the relevant authorities will take necessary measures to prevent similar attacks in the future.
The Western Thrace region – located near Greece's northeastern border with Türkiye – is home to a substantial, centuries-old Muslim Turkish minority numbering around 150,000.
The rights of Western Thracian Turks are guaranteed under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. But over the decades, the situation has seriously deteriorated for the community, which is also economically one of the poorest in Greece.
Seeing the community as a “hostage” of its ties with Türkiye, the Greek government has committed numerous breaches of its obligations and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings over the years, including shutting down schools and mosques and banning the use of the words “Turk” or “Turkish.”
In late July, citing a “lack of students,” Greece ruled for the closure of nine more primary schools, seven in the Rodop district and two others in the Xanthi (Iskeçe) district, belonging to the Turkish minority. The move brought the number of Turkish primary schools to 90, significantly down from the 307 that were open in 1926.
Earlier this year, the Turkish minority turned to the United Nations’ special rapporteur on minority issues to highlight the problems it has been facing, including the closure of schools, the banning of Turkish-language education, and refusing to legally allow the community to elect their religious leaders like muftis (Muslim clerics), which is a treaty right.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, too, is accused of ignoring and whitewashing the longstanding issues plaguing Western Thracian Turks.
Türkiye has long criticized Greece for depriving the community of their basic rights and freedoms.
The issue also looms over Turkish-Greek relations, which have been strained for decades over several disputes regarding territorial claims in the Aegean.
With relations on the mend in recent months, however, Ankara and Athens have been working toward rapprochement. After holding a rare in-person meeting with Mitsotakis, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has recently expressed “an exclusive request” from Mitsotakis to overcome the problems of Greece’s Turkish minority.
“We want to overcome these problems and come to an agreement, especially about the muftis,” Erdoğan said, noting that the ambassadors and ministries in both countries would launch talks that would pave the way for Athens to make preparations for a solution.
