IS MR. FEIN TALKING ABOUT GREECE?
Aris Anganos
Global Politician
e-turkey
May 15 2008
NY
The 3/24/08 article by Mr. Bruce Fein entitled "Greek Human Rights
Violations against its Turkish Minority in Western Thrace" demonstrates
a striking lack of knowledge of the situation on the ground in Greece,
particularly over the last 15 years.
Mr. Fein lists himself as a "Resident Scholar" at the Turkish
Coalition of America. Unfortunately, he does not seem to have done
much scholarly research on the subject because his article contains
several inaccuracies and distortions.
What is worse, the reference at the end of the article to the Islamic
world can be construed as an attempt to place the minorities’ issue in
the context of a "battle of civilizations." This is not only wrong and
obsolete in terms of a modern vision of a multicultural and tolerant
world, but also raises questions as to the real motives of the writer.
>From a Greek perspective, the aim is to smoothly integrate the members
of her Muslim minority – not only persons of Turkish origin – in the
political, social, educational, and economic life of the country
where they live, namely Greece, while preserving their religious,
linguistic, and cultural identity. The aim is definitely not to
isolate them in ghettos on the basis of their religious belief!
Regarding the "facts" that the author invokes, let me address them
one by one:
1. The term "Muslim minority" stems from the Lausanne Treaty of
1923 and the Agreement on the Exchange of Populations of 1923: not
all Muslims of Thrace are of Turkish origin, as the minority also
comprises Pomaks and Roma.
The Treaty of Lausanne has been governing the status of the Muslim
minority in Thrace since 1923. This has regrettably not been the case
in Turkey as far as her minorities are concerned, including the Greek
one. Successive Turkish governments have harassed Greek, Armenian,
and other minorities to the point of extinction. The once 100,000
strong thriving Greek minority of Istanbul was practically wiped
out in the September 1955 pogrom and its aftermath. The cultural and
physical abuse of the Armenians is well known and that of the Kurds
has recently come to the world’s attention. All these violations and
numerous others have been committed by a close ally of the U.S. and
a country aspiring to become a member of the European Union.
2. The reference to "salaries" allegedly paid only to Greek Christian
families with three children or more is not factually correct. The
special allowance is granted to all families of Greek citizens with
three or more children, regardless of religion or origin.
3. Mr. Fein refers to people who left the country permanently and lost
their citizenship. The applicable Article 19 of the Nationality Code,
which provided that any Greek citizen who left the country with no
intention of returning lost his or her citizenship, was repealed in
1988. Nowadays, there are less than 30 stateless people residing
in Thrace. These people have been granted Special Identity Cards
in accordance with the UN Convention of stateless persons and are
currently in the process of acquiring Greek citizenship.
4. The Muftis (religious practitioners) as in other countries
(Turkey included) are appointed on the basis of a procedure in
which prominent personalities, theology professors, and members of
the minority, are consulted. In addition to their religious duties
they also perform certain administrative and judicial functions in
the areas of family and inheritance law. The minority’s religious
rights are fully respected and can be exercised with no impediment:
apart from the 3 mufti offices, there are 300 mosques and 370 imams in
Thrace. Furthermore, in accordance with a newly adopted law, another
240 imams are in the process of being appointed to the Mufti offices.
This policy contrasts with the severe restrictions on the Orthodox
Patriarchate in Istanbul, which has been the seat of the Greek Orthodox
religion for centuries. The Patriarchate’s Theological School of
Halki has been closed and is prohibited from operating. Many of
the properties of the Patriarchate have been confiscated without
compensation.
5. Mr. Fein claims that the requirement that a political party must
receive 3 percent of the vote in the previous election to be included
in Parliament is discriminatory. This requirement applies to all
political parties. Similar percentages exist in other countries. As a
matter of fact, the required percentage in Turkey is 10 percent. It is
worth mentioning that the Muslim minority is usually represented in the
Greek parliament. Currently, there are two Muslim members of Parliament
while there are about 290 Muslims in prefectural and town councils.
6. As for education, education for the members of the minority is
provided in 215 primary and 4 secondary minority schools as well as 2
Koranic schools which operate in Thrace, employing around 400 Muslim
teachers. Courses are taught equally in Greek and Turkish. Turkish
language courses have been introduced, on a pilot basis, in some
public high schools, to serve the needs of the members of the minority.
To illustrate the alleged "plight" of the Muslim minority in Thrace,
Greece has not only implemented the Treaty of Lausanne obligations,
but has taken affirmative measures for the minority’s benefit in the
field of education. A quota for the admission of Muslim students
to Universities and Higher Technical Schools has been established
recently. By 2007, 469 students had benefited from it. Greece has
also introduced recently a similar quota for members of the Muslim
minority to take part in the examinations for the appointment and
employment in the public sector.
The affirmative measures were expanded to the financial situation
of the Muslim Foundations in Thrace: legislation has been enacted
to exempt them from submitting Tax Declarations on income and land
property up to January 1, 2007. Consequently, their accumulated
registered debts, fines, and existing mortgages by that date were
forgiven. The new law on the Muslim minority charitable foundations,
adopted by the Greek Parliament in February 2008, has improved the
legal framework governing their operation and provides inter alia,
for the election of their Governing Councils.
Reading about the "plundering" of the property of the foundations that
Mr. Fein mentions, I cannot help thinking of the situation prevailing
in the case of the Greek minority in Turkey, which is supposed to be
governed by the very same Treaty of Lausanne: 24 Foundations have been
seized, a significant number of properties has been confiscated under
various pretexts and in many cases sold to third persons. Mr. Fein
might be interested in examining the practices of the Turkish General
Directorate of Foundations.
Recalling the Treaty of Lausanne and the Helsinki Final Act principles
that the author evokes, one must ask whatever has become of the rights
of the Ecumenical Patriarchate based in Istanbul? The harassment
of the Patriarchate, the confiscation of its properties and the
requirement that the Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch be a Turkish
citizen are literally choking the ancient seat of the Greek Orthodox
Church. The parallel prohibition of the functioning of the Orthodox
Theological School of Halki thus assures the ultimate demise of the
Church in Turkey.
Whatever has become for the rights of minority education for the Greeks
in Turkey? Whatever has become of the minority education on the Greek
islands of Imvros and Tenedos which were ceded to Turkey in the Treaty
of Lausanne because they are at the mouth of the Dardanelles? Or the
self administration granted to these two islands by the Treaty of
Lausanne? The list of violations of that Treaty by Turkey is very long.
It would be worthwhile having a closer look at these issues and
pointing to the real injustices and not brining in notions of
"battles." These notions can only exacerbate issues and create
resentment which, I believe, serves neither the interests of Greece
nor those of Turkey. Surely, the creation of conflict along religious
lines between two major allies is something we would certainly not
like to see in the U.S.
Is Mr. Fein nostalgic for mentalities dating back to the dark days
of the collapsing Ottoman Empire? Or?