A civil-society organization representing Turks in Western Thrace on Wednesday criticized remarks by Greek Deputy Education Minister Nikos Papaioannou linking the use of Turkish in minority education to what he described as efforts to bring the minority under a single identity.
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) said in a statement that Turkish is the mother tongue of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace and an integral part of the community’s identity and educational autonomy.
The federation said Greece recognizes the special status of the minority education system in Western Thrace as stemming from the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, while arguing that government policies have gradually weakened its autonomy in education.
The ABTTF also said minority schools have had their operations suspended one by one on the grounds of declining student numbers and that Turkish families face difficulties when seeking to enroll their children in minority schools.
The group rejected what it described as attempts to portray the Turkish language as a means of eliminating differences within the minority and bringing its members under a single identity.
It called on Greece to fulfill its obligations under the Treaty of Lausanne and to restore the autonomous structure of the minority education system.
The statement came in response to remarks by Papaioannou in the Greek parliament.
Responding to a parliamentary question from NIKI party lawmaker Yorgos Rountas, Papaioannou said the minority education system in Western Thrace was based on the Treaty of Lausanne.
He argued, however, that the prominent role of Turkish in minority education served to bring the minority under a single identity.
Papaioannou also rejected characterizations that minority schools were being “closed,” arguing that the"suspension of their operations" was the result of declining student numbers.
