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The Turks of Western Thrace are a community with minority rights recognized by the Lausanne Peace Treaty of July 24, 1923, one of the most important diplomatic texts of the 20th century. Within the scope of Articles 37-45 of this treaty, Turks living in Western Thrace were guaranteed minority status and were granted numerous fundamental rights, including religious freedoms, education, association and the use of their mother tongue. However, the recognition of these rights has consistently faced systematic violations in practice. This situation poses a serious problem not only in terms of international law but also in terms of international relations.
Symbol of struggle
Dr. Fazıl Küçük and Dr. Sadık Ahmet, who fought against Greek atrocities in Western Thrace and Greek Cypriot atrocities in Cyprus in the 20th century, had not only their professions in common, but also the struggle they waged and the price they paid at the end of this struggle. However, both of them are enshrined in the hearts not only in Türkiye but also throughout the entire Turkic world as national heroes whose heroism is passed down from generation to generation and who inspire those who struggle not to lower the banner of their just cause.
Ahmet is a leader who fought with great will and determination to promote and defend the fundamental rights of Western Thrace Turks in Greece and to bring them to the attention of the international community. Ahmet, who began his medical education in Ankara and graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, has become a symbol of the struggle for the existence of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace, particularly since the 1980s. His arrest in 1989 for drawing attention to the human rights violations to which the Turkish minority in Western Thrace was subjected in a declaration he published, and his political activities through the Friendship, Equality and Peace Party (DEB) and the newspaper he published (Balkan), which he founded with the aim of “gathering the minority around a center, raising awareness in one direction and raising the people who will govern our society in the coming years,” but which was closed down by the Supreme Court decision, led to his recognition not only in Greece but also in the whole Turkic world.
A curious coincidence is that he died in a suspicious traffic accident with his family on July 24, 1995, on the anniversary of the Lausanne Peace Treaty. This case is still being publicly questioned as an “unsolved case.” The symbolic significance of his death marked a turning point for those who wished to continue his struggle, ensuring that the problems of the Turks of Western Thrace were more frequently brought to the international agenda.
Violations of Greece
In addition to the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), to which Greece is a party, and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) impose an obligation on Greece to protect minority rights. However, numerous ECtHR decisions finding the closure or non-recognition of associations established by Western Thrace Turks unjust and ruling that their freedom of expression and association was violated have not been systematically implemented by Greece. This situation not only violates the fundamental rights of this community but also constitutes a clear violation of international legal norms.
The situation of the Western Thrace Turks has been a constant point of tension in Turkish-Greek relations. While the Treaty of Lausanne granted mutual recognition of minority rights (Greek minorities in Türkiye, Turkish minorities in Greece), the disruption of this balance in favor of Greece has been a topic of discussion not only in bilateral relations but also in multilateral platforms such as NATO and the European Union. Greece, an EU member state, has been criticized by the EU for violating European values, including respect for fundamental human rights and minority rights, which has led to accusations of double standards. Türkiye has consistently highlighted these violations through diplomatic channels, but the response from the EU and the international community has generally been weak. This has effectively rendered the discrimination faced by the Turks of Western Thrace a form of “silent approval by the international system.”
Greece banned the use of the word “Turk” under the argument that “there are no Turks in Western Thrace.” Greece has long refused to recognize the Muslim minority in Western Thrace as “Turks,” increasing its pressure on identity by using the terms “Greek Muslim” or “Muslim minority.” Practices such as the closure of Turkish-language schools, the transfer of foundation properties and the non-recognition of elected muftis are various aspects of this assimilation policy.
The struggle of Dr. Sadık Ahmet, who said, “I am being taken to prison only because I am a Turk. If being a Turk is a crime, I repeat: I am a Turk and I will remain a Turk,” before going to prison, has become not only a minority’s struggle for rights, but also a nation’s struggle for honor.
Rights guaranteed by Lausanne
The Turks of Western Thrace living in Greece were recognized as a minority under international law by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, a community guaranteed certain rights in the spheres of religion, culture and education. However, these rights have remained only on paper.
According to Lausanne, the Turks of Western Thrace enjoy international protection for their language, religion, education and representation. Despite this, the Greek state’s practices continue to violate these fundamental rights. Their representation in public institutions is almost nonexistent, and their recruitment into public positions has become virtually impossible. What equality has this community, whose voices are systematically excluded from public positions and whose voices are sought to be silenced, ever received? For decades, these people have lived peacefully, without throwing a single stone against the state in which they live. It maintains its stance. Yet, the Greek state persists in viewing this silence as a threat.
The question posed years ago by the late Dr. Sadık Ahmet remains unanswered: “Half of the Rhodope region is Turkish, 40% of Xanthi is Turkish … So how many Turks are there in government offices?” The answer is a grave wound in the conscience of not only Greece but also the EU.
Greece claims that the Muslim minority in Western Thrace is equal to Greek citizens. However, some questions must be asked: How many Western Thrace Turks are eligible to participate in the judiciary? How many Turks have a say in public bureaucracy? How many Western Thrace Turks are eligible to wear this country’s official uniforms?
If this is “equality,” what does the Treaty of Lausanne guarantee? All this discrimination occurs in an EU member state, a state that prides itself on human rights and minority rights. And Western Thrace Turks are still being punished today, not for not throwing stones, but for being silenced and ignored.
Test for international conscience
The determined struggle of Ahmet demonstrated how critical it is to defend the historical rights of Western Thrace Turks both nationally and internationally. Today, the protection and promotion of these rights is the responsibility not only of Greece, but also of the EU, the United Nations and the entire international community.
As Türkiye, we have a number of tasks to fulfill this historic responsibility. Firstly, international monitoring mechanisms should be established, the implementation of ECtHR judgments should be closely monitored, and public opinion should be informed. One hundred and two years have passed since the Treaty of Lausanne was signed. But the rights of Western Thrace Turks continue to be violated. The minority provisions of this treaty should be brought back to the agenda and reinterpreted in a historical and legal context. Another thing that should be done is for the Turkish diaspora and the Turkic world to continue bringing the issues of Western Thrace Turks to international public opinion in a stronger way. The media should publish more sensitive publications on this issue. Last but not least, the cultural and linguistic heritage of the Turkish identity in Western Thrace should be preserved through the cooperation of education, media, and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs). Short, medium and long-term plans should be made in this regard.
