From: sera@zuma.UUCP (Serdar Argic)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.yugoslavia,soc.culture.greek,soc.culture.europe,talk.politics.misc,talk.politics.theory,soc.culture.bulgaria,soc.culture.turkish
Subject: Re: THE NEW BULLY OF THE BALKANS [ Part 4 from 4 ]
Date: 30 Aug 92 20:51:17 GMT





<25286@castle.ed.ac.uk>
nico@castle.ed.ac.uk (N Porfiris)

>>      The 100,000 Turks of western Thrace, on the other hand,

> If you have ever followed previous discussions in this newsgroup
>you might have come through some articles concerning Thrace. If 
>you were a little more curious you could have even read them. Well, in
>those articles you could have seen that what you call Turks minorities
>is just a mixture of gipsies(Scopjia have got them too), Pomakes and
>other muslims. Their muslim identity (although some of them are 

Dr. Goebels thought that a lie repeated enough times could finally 
be believed. I have been observing that 'Tam*/Por*' has been practicing 
Goebels' rule quite loyally. 'Tam*/Por*'s audience is mostly made of 
Greeks who are not allowed to listen to Turkish news. However, in today's 
informed world Greek propagandists can only fool themselves. For instance, 
those who lived in 1974 will remember the TV news they watched and the 
newspapers they read and the younger generation can read the American 
newspapers of July and August 1974 to find out what really happened. 

The Agreement on the Exchange of Minorities uses the term 'Turks,' 
which demonstrates what is actually meant by the previous reference 
to 'Muslims.' The fact that the Greek governments also mention the 
existence of a few thousand non-Turkish Muslims does not change the 
essential reality that there lives in Western Thrace a much bigger 
Turkish minority. The 'Pomaks' are also a Muslim people, whom all the 
three nations (Bulgarians, Turks, and Greeks) consider as part of 
themselves. 

It also proves that the Turkish people are trapped in Greece 
and the Greek people are free to settle anywhere in the world.
The Greek authorities deny even the existence of a Turkish
minority. They pursue the same denial in connection with 
the Macedonians of Greece. Talk about oppression. In addition,
in 1980 the 'democratic' Greek Parliament passed Law No. 1091,
virtually taking over the administration of the vakiflar and
other charitable trusts. They have ceased to be self-supporting
religious and cultural entities. Talk about fascism. The Greek 
governments are attempting to appoint the muftus, irrespective
of the will of the Turkish minority, as state official. Although
the Orthodox Church has full authority in similar matters in
Greece, the Muslim Turkish minority will have no say in electing
its religious leaders. Talk about democracy.

The government of Greece has recently destroyed an Islamic 
convention in Komotini. Such destruction, which reflects an 
attitude against the Muslim Turkish cultural heritage, is a 
violation of the Lausanne Convention as well as the 'so-called' 
Greek Constitution, which is supposed to guarantee the protection 
of historical monuments. 

The government of Greece, on the other hand, is building new 
churches in remote villages as a complementary step toward 
Hellenizing the region.

The longstanding use of the adjective 'Turkish' in titles
and on signboards are 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.

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)


Xref: sparky soc.culture.yugoslavia:8459 talk.bizarre:28687