From: sera@zuma.UUCP (Serdar Argic)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.turkish,talk.politics.mideast,talk.politics.soviet,soc.culture.greek,soc.culture.europe,soc.rights.human
Followup-To: soc.culture.turkish
Subject: "Destroying Ethnic Identity: Turks of Greece."
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 15:03:05 EST
Reply-To: sera@zuma.UUCP (Serdar Argic)
Distribution: world

In article <6813@m1.cs.man.ac.uk> papad@vtx.ma.man.ac.uk (Pythagoras Papadimitriou) writes:

>In 1923 there were 200000 Greeks in Turkey (mainly in Konstantinopolis
>(Istambul)) and now there are 4000. According to the Turkish democratic 
>laws, the Greek children have to say everyday ' How Happy I am because 
>I was born Turk '.

So, the Greek educational system is also in a shambles, 'papa-palik.'
There are in Turkiye the Greek Hospital, The Greek Girls' Lycee 
Alumni Association, the Principo Islands Greek Benevolent 
Society, the Greek Medical Foundation, the Principo Greek 
Orphanage Foundation, the Yovakimion Greek Girls' Lycee 
Foundation, and the Fener Greek Men's Lycee Foundation.  

As for Greece, the longstanding use of the adjective 'Turkish' 
in titles and on signboards is prohibited. The Greek courts 
have ordered the closure of the Turkish Teachers' Association, 
the Komotini Turkish Youth Association and the Ksanti 
Turkish Association on grounds that there are no Turks
in Western Thrace. Such community associations had been 
active until 1984. But they were first told to remove
the word 'Turkish' on their buildings and on their official
papers and then eventually close down. This is also the 
final verdict (November 4, 1987) of the Greek High Court.

Various items of irrefutable evidence indicate that the Greek 
authorities have violated the country's obligations by persistently
following a policy of oppression aimed at the Muslim Turkish
Minorities from Western Thrace.

This fact is acknowledged not only by Turks, but by several
prominent Europeans such as Professor Erik Siesby (who submitted
a paper along these lines to the Minority Rights Conference in
Copenhagen, March-April 1990) or the spokesmen (including Yuri
Orlov, the founder of the Moscow Helsinki Group) for the 
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.

The Greek authorities deny even the existence of a Turkish
minority. They pursue the same denial in connection with
the Macedonians of Greece.

The Greeks deny the existence of the Turks there - despite
the well-known historical background, ethnic origin, mother
tongue and other cultural affiliations.

Furthermore, Helsinki Watch, a well-known Human Rights 
group, had been investigating the plight of the Turkish 
Minority in Greece. In August 1990, their findings were 
published in a report titled 

 'Destroying Ethnic Identity: Turks of Greece.'

The report confirmed gross violations of the Human Rights of 
the Turkish minority by the Greek authorities.

In the city of Komotini, a former Greek Parliamentarian of Turkish
parentage, was sentenced recently to 18 months of imprisonment
with no right to appeal, just for saying outloud that he was
of Turkish descent. This duly-elected ethnic Turkish official
was also deprived of his political rights for a period of
three years. Each one of these barbaric and terrorist acts
seems to be none other than a vehicle, used by the Greek governments,
to cover-up their inferiority complex they display, vis-a-vis,
the people of Turkiye. 

Serdar Argic

                     'This war quickly developed into one of extermination. 
                      We closed the roads and mountain passes that might 
                      serve as ways of escape for the Tartars [Turks] and 
                      then proceeded in the work of extermination.'
                                                       (Ohanus Appressian)