WRITTEN QUESTION E-3623/03 by Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Discriminatory policy against the Greek inhabitants of Imbros and Tenedos in Turkey.
Date: 2003-12-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, Türkiye, accession to the European Union, discrimination on the basis of nationality, government violence, human rights, national minority, ownership, protection of minorities, religious discrimination

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/153

Consistent with its action in other parts of the world, the European Union has the task of promoting
dialogue aimed at finding a peaceful negotiated solution to the current crisis in Venezuela.

In view of the fact that a referendum may be held in the next few months in accordance with the
provisions of the Venezuelan Constitution, if a sufficient number of people support it, an unequivocal
position needs to be adopted quickly.

Can the Commission, in agreement with the Venezuelan government and the opposition, arrange for
expert electoral observers to be sent as soon as the required signatures are collected (cid:1) probably by the end
of November (cid:1) in order to ensure that the referendum is held in a correct and proper manner, at all
stages both before and during the poll?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(15 January 2004)

The Union, in several Declarations, has emphasised the need for a peaceful, democratic, constitutional and
electoral solution to the political crisis in Venezuela. Moreover, the Commission has offered financial and
technical assistance for the implementation of the Agreement reached between the government and the
opposition on 29 May 2003. In order to do so, the Commission has signed a project to assist the
Organisation of American States (OAS)
in its efforts to implement the Agreement, which comprises
support for an electoral solution, investigation of the events of April 2002 and disarming the civilian
population. The amount budgeted is EUR 600 000. The Commission is working with the OAS with a view
to ensuring the project’s timely implementation.

Furthermore, the Commission is following closely developments concerning possible referenda and is
prepared to consider providing support, including support in the form of electoral observation. A recall
referendum against any elected high-level State officials can only take place if the number of signatures
required by the Venezuelan constitution has been collected. In two consecutive acts of signature collection,
both the government and the opposition have collected signatures to recall Deputies and President Chávez,
respectively. The government claims to have gathered sufficient signatures to recall a number of Deputies
and the opposition argues that it has also collected the required number to activate the mechanism for a
referendum to recall President Chavez. The signatures collected should be presented to the National
Electoral Council for further verification.

In accordance with the standard methodology for election observation, any decision to deploy a Union
Electoral Observation Mission will depend on the recommendations made by a preliminary Union
Exploratory Mission as to whether observation is advisable, useful and feasible. And, as with every Union
Election Observation Mission, the authorities in the host country would need to issue an invitation to the
Union to observe, prior to deployment.

(2004/C 88 E/0163)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3623/03

by Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 December 2003)

Subject: Discriminatory policy against the Greek inhabitants of Imbros and Tenedos in Turkey

Indigenous Greeks have lived on the islands of Imbros and Tenedos for 3 000 years. These islands were
ceded to Turkey in 1923 under the Treaty of Lausanne with the provision that they ‘shall enjoy a special
administrative organisation composed of local elements and furnishing every guarantee for the native non-
Muslim population in so far as concerns local administration and the protection of persons and property.
The maintenance of order will be assured therein by a police force recruited from amongst the local
population by the local administration above provided for and placed under its orders.’

C 88 E/154

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

According to the official Turkish census, in 1 927 there were 7 000 Greeks on Imbros and a negligible
number of Turks, while on Tenedos there were 2 500 Greeks and 1 247 Turks. At the present time, there
are 250 Greeks left on Imbros, while 9 000 Turkish settlers have been installed. On Tenedos, only
30 Greeks remain and the Turkish administration changed the official names of the two islands, which
were thousands of years old, to ‘Gökçe Ada’ and ‘Bozca Ada’ respectively. The policy of persecution was
instigated after 1955, continued in 1964 and reached its peak in 1974 when the Turkish army invaded
Cyprus.

The provisions of Article 14 of the Treaty of Lausanne were never implemented by the Turkish State and
Greek ceased to be taught once the six Greek elementary schools, the high school and the four nursery
schools, which had 1 300 pupils and were built with funding from the Greek communities of the two
islands, were expropriated by the Turkish State. The same fate was suffered by the 300 Christian churches
and four monasteries which previously existed, a strategy encountered only in countries with a hard-line
apartheid regime. The eradication of the Greeks of Imbros and Tenedos was completed when they were
dispossessed of their property. Significantly, those who were forced to leave the two islands were stripped
of their Turkish citizenship and therefore lost their property which they cannot even pass on to their
descendants. It is indicative that the results of the inventory of property carried out by the Turkish Land
Registry in the village of Agridia on Imbros (until recently the sole remaining all-Greek village in terms of
inhabitants and property), which were announced after 23 June 2003, show that 77,18 % of the total area
which belonged to the inhabitants of the village devolved to the Turkish State, while private individuals
appear to possess only 22,82 %.

Are the above facts consistent with the conduct of a country which is a candidate for accession and claims
that it is ‘coming into line’ with the standards applying in the Union? Will the Union be asked to restore,
immediately and effectively, the right to property for all the non-Muslim population of Turkey before a
date is set for the opening of preaccession negotiations?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(5 February 2004)

The Commission is aware of the situation regarding alleged human rights violations against the native
Greek minority on the Aegean islands of Imvros and Tenedos to which the Honourable Member refers.

The Commission provides its assessment on the issue of the rights of minorities in Turkey in its Regular
Report 2003 (1). The Commission also refers the Honourable Member to its reply to Written Question
number E-3025/03 by Mr Hatzidakis (2).

(1) COM(2003) 676 final.
(2) See page 127.

(2004/C 88 E/0164)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3635/03

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Cabo Verde (cid:1) special status vis-à-vis the EU

(5 December 2003)

On 24 November the Prime Minister of Cabo Verde completed a working visit to Portugal, following
official stays in other EU countries (Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France), the purpose of which was
to raise awareness amongst those countries’ authorities with a view to securing a special status for his
country vis-à-vis the European Union.

According to press reports the Portuguese Prime Minister expressed the view (at the end of his meeting
with José Maria Neves) that Cabo Verde ‘has a special role to play in providing a link between Africa and
Europe’ and that ‘by virtue of its political development (Cabo Verde is an exemplary democracy),
its
cultural development, its strong human links with certain European countries (Portugal in particular) and
its very location, Cabo Verde is a country which we could in some ways describe as Euro-African’.