The Western Thrace Turkish Minority (OSCE) participated in the 3rd OSCE Supplementary
Human Dimension Meeting of 2025. The meeting took place in Vienna on June 2-3, hosted
by OSCE Chairman Finland and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR). Human Rights Expert Kerem Abdurahimoglu represented the Western Thrace
Turkish Minority. The meeting, themed “Inclusivity as a way to promote tolerance and
combating discrimination,” began with an opening session on Monday, June 2. The first
session, titled “Respect: Combating intolerance and discrimination in a comprehensive and
inclusive manner in the OSCE region,” was then held.
In this session, the Western Thrace Turkish Minority addressed the challenges faced by the
Western Thrace Turkish Minority in the areas of freedom of association and education. In his
speech, WTMUGA addressed the ECHR rulings, which have remained unenforced for 17
years in the cases of the Xanthi Turkish Union and other Turkish associations, and the closure
of minority schools. The second session of the meeting, titled “Respond: Promoting
inclusiveness through interfaith, religious, and intercultural dialogue and cooperation,” took
place on Tuesday, June 3rd. Speaking in this session, WTMUGA addressed the issues faced
by the Western Thrace Turkish Minority in the area of religious freedom and marginalization.
He noted that the minority is not permitted to elect its own Mufti under international law, and
that calls from its legitimate representatives for dialogue with government officials to resolve
these issues have not been answered. The meeting continued with the third session, titled
“Preparation: Towards more inclusive policy-making approaches to promote tolerance,
combating discrimination, and advancing equality.” WTMUGA also addressed the meeting,
stating that Greece’s interventions in the education of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority
are reducing the quality of minority education and preventing the opening of bilingual
Turkish-Greek kindergartens. He also stated that the minority was not included in decision-
making processes on issues affecting the minority, and that the FEP Party, which received the
support of over 80% of Western Thrace Turks, and independent minority MPs were unable to
enter the Greek Parliament due to the 3% electoral threshold. The Greek Delegation,
exercising its right of reply in all three sessions, reiterated the official Greek position, stating
that the minority in Western Thrace is a Muslim minority and that they enjoy all rights as
equal Greek citizens. The meeting concluded with a closing session where speeches and
contributions were evaluated.
