Speaker: Thank you Mr. Chairperson. I represent the Western Thrace Turks in Europe. A diaspora organization representing the Turkish community in Western Thrace. We recall Recommendation 8, 13, 14, 21, 23 of the Europe Central Asian Regional Forum and we underlined the importance of the recommendations which protects the rights of national minorities on the state level. The rights and freedom granted with the education and religious autonomy to the Turkish community in western Thrace with the Lausanne Treaty applied from 1923 to 1967 but was not restored despite the transition to democracy in the country. In the statement made by the Prime Minister Mitsotakis office in his meeting with students of the Turkish minority school in [inaudible] in november. The government cannot even declare the language used in the minority program as Turkish. Although this bilingual education system is in practice since 1923. The association which [inaudible] the word Turkish in their titles operated without any obstacles for more than half a century and the three associations were dissolved in 1923. In the three cases known as the [inaudible] group of cases, the reopening of the domestic proceedings of cases were not started although 14 years has passed from the European Court judgments. And Greece is now among the top 10 countries that do not execute European Court judgments. Also the Turkish community in Rhodes and Kos are not recognised as minorities since these islands were not part of Greece when the Treaty of Lausanne was signed and they do not have any right to have education in their mother tongue or the right to choose their own religious leader or control their own charitable organizations. They are all deprived of their minority rights. Therefore, Greece should demonstrate its commitment to protection of national minorities and should confirm that…

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