Minorities in Greece

It seems that Greece, in spite of her EU membership and all the pressure that comes from the international community, will not give up the policies of assimilation that she applies to the different ethnic communities living on her territory that she has included to her border after occupying these areas during the Balkan wars. The aim of these policies is to have these ethnic people become forcefully Greek. Greece has always claimed that the people, living on the territories that she has occupied or endeavors to acquire, are of Hellenistic origin. The application of "ethnic purification" targeting the minorities that has become a state policy of Greece is a manifestation of Greek racism and Greek racism is based on "Orthodoxy". Greek political powers could always claim that whoever is Orthodox Christian is "Greek". This is a tactic of the Greek Diaspora.

When established in the beginning of the 1830’s, Greece consisted of one third of her current territories. She reached the present borders with the Bucharest Agreement following the Balkan wars. Turkish, Macedonian, Albanian and Ulah people were living on the territories that were left to Greece and these people constitute now the minority groups of Greece. However these minorities never received good conduct of the Greek administrations and could not use their rights of minority and citizenship.

The Turkish minority in Western Thrace is not the only minority whose rights are guaranteed by agreements. According to the Sevres Agreement of 1920, all the minorities in Greece have the right to receive education and worship in their own language. However, Greek Administrations have often usurped these rights of the minorities by using force.

The policy of Greece to assimilate the minorities and make them Greek does not serve any other purpose than creating problems for herself. As the pressure on the minorities increase, these people of different origin break off and get distanced from Greece.

Among the various ethnic groups in Greece, the most important one is that of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace.

As of the beginning of the 1950’s Greece has been denying the presence of the Western Thrace Turks and has been introducing these people who are genuine Turks as "Greek Muslims". Within the framework of this policy, Greek courts have prohibited the use of the word "Turkish" in names of organizations such as the "Union of Turkish Teachers" or "Xanthi Turkish Union". In April 1991, the Greek Supreme Court by decision number 1729/1987 approved the closure of associations which had the word "Turkish" in their names. In the 1990’s the problem in Western Thrace became more serious when those who claimed to be Turkish were imprisoned, deprived from their properties, dismissed from their jobs and expelled from citizenship on various pretexts.

The 19^th article of the Greek Citizenship Law stipulates that citizens who are not of Hellenistic origin and who are believed not to return back to Greece can be deprived of citizenship. Although this law has been abolished in 1998, approximately 60.000 Western Thrace Turks have been deprived in the meantime. It is worth attention that most of these people were expelled from citizenship when leaving Greece for visiting relatives or having a journey. Turks, who go to Europe to find work as a EU member Greek citizen, are deprived from citizenship and the authorities of the relevant country is requested to expel these people. On the other hand, the risk of losing citizenship for the reason of leaving the country has naturally restricted the freedom of movement of the members of the minority.

Within the framework of the Athens Agreement signed in 1913 and the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, the Turks in Western Thrace were given the right to elect by free will their mufti and accordingly the people have elected the mufti until 1990. However, this practice has been lifted without any reason. The Greek Administration appointed muftis to Komotini and Xanthi who were not received with favor by the minorities. Mehmet Emin Aga, the mufti of Komotini, and Ibrahim Serif, the mufti of Xanthi, who were elected by the Turkish community, were repeatedly brought to court and imprisoned for unlawfully using the title of "mufti" and opposing the Greek Administration. Today this practice is still going on; Ibrahim Serif has applied to the European Court of Human Rights for not being recognized by the Greek Administration although they have been elected by the minority. Greece has been sentenced for "violating the 9^th article of the European Human Rights Convention that stipulates freedom of thought, religion and opinion".

The Junta Administration that took over power in 1967, has - completely controversial to the Lausanne Treaty - officially abolished the partially preserved legal and conceptual identities and functions of the communities, dismissed the elected executive boards of the foundations established by the minorities, and replaced them with individuals serving their own purpose. The Greek Administration did not only take back the right of the minorities to manage and control their own foundations but also took over the assets of the foundations. To give an example, in Komotini there used to be a graveyard totaling an area of 21 acres; now it has become a "war museum". On the other hand, from time to time tax payment is demanded for the real estates and assets of the foundations and when these taxes are not paid these assets and real estates are put under a mortgage. However, these foundations are exempt from tax and thus the minorities do not pay the demanded taxes.

The Greeks, who do not permit the restoration of the mosques, also show disrespect to the religious values by continuously destructing the grave stones that belong to the Turks.

Another target of Greece’s policy concerning the assimilation of Turks in Western Thrace is "education". The 40^th Article of the Lausanne Treaty gives the Turkish minority the right to establish educational institutions that will give education in the mother tongue provided that the Turkish minority will cover all the expenditures. The 41^st Article stipulates that the Greek government has to open primary schools in the regions where the Muslim minority constitutes the majority of the population. In spite of this, Greece has taken the Turkish schools under her own control, appointed to these schools teachers who are graduates of the Thessaloniki Pedagogy Academy where they are educated according to Greece’s own policy and whose Turkish are insufficient, and has not appointed any of the teachers who are from the minority and have received the same education.

Greek authorities also close the schools before the beginning of the education year on the pretext that renovation is going to take place and thus cause delays in the curriculum. In 1983 a law was issued stipulating that it is obligatory to get a license for construction and repair activities in the border regions. The Greek administration exploited this law to prevent the repair and expansion of schools and other buildings belonging to the minority. In most of the schools in Western Thrace belonging to the minorities the various grades have their classes together in few classrooms that are available. In some places there are two classrooms and at some other places only one classroom. This situation decreases the quality of the given education.

The Turkish minority, that is of considerable importance in Western Thrace because of its population, is not able to carry this importance to the political field. Greece, being in an effort to avoid the minority’s participation, impedes the election of the independent minority candidates by means of various arrangements. In 1993 new arrangements were made according to which candidates, including the independent ones as well, had to receive 3 % of the valid votes of the whole country so as to be able to be elected as deputy. The threshold of 3 % means a total of approximately 200.000 votes and such a procedure impedes the political will of the Turkish minority that has a total population of around 120.000 and a total of nearly 50.000 votes.

The initiative of the party for Friendship, Equality and Peace and the election of its leader Dr.Sadık AHMET as independent deputy on June 18, 1989 has brought a new dimension to the political line of the minority. However the suspicious traffic accident of S.AHMET on July 24, 1995 did not allow this initiative to continue.

According to official records, at the time when the Lausanne Treaty was signed, 84 % of the land in Western Thrace belonged to the Turks, but as a result of the policy conducted by Greece this has decreased to 25 %. Over the years the Greek Administration has taken over possession of the most valuable parts of land belonging to Turks and has built universities, prisons and military facilities on them. The Turkish minority made their living with agriculture and could not find any job in official institutions for being a minority member. For this reason the Turkish minority got into a bad economic situation. Therefore, Western Thrace is defined as the most underdeveloped region of Europe and Greece.

In spite of all this pressure, the Greek Administration could not succeed to assimilate the Turks. Hereupon, Greeks resorted to the tactic of causing divisions among the members of the minority. Greece attempted to create an artificial Pomak and Gypsy culture and continuously tried to divide the minority as Turks, Pomaks and Gypsies. They also used the EU funds to finance the conduct of these activities. Within the framework of the Lausanne Treaty, the minority whose rights have been taken under guarantee is defined as "Muslim". Greece claims that this minority does not only consist of Turks but also of Pomaks and Gypsies. Throughout history there is not any literature mentioning the language or culture of Pomaks and Gypsies. However, Greece has been in an effort to create a new culture by preparing new dictionaries, grammar books, novels, music cassettes and other material. While doing all these activities, Greece maintains to claim that all the Orthodox people living on her territory or in the neighboring countries are of "Greek" origin by which she gives the clue of Greek propaganda.

Although the Greek Administration, in spite of all the legal rights given to them by international agreements, wants to eliminate the Western Thrace Turks in Greece, this minority maintains its struggle to survive and to use their minority and citizenship rights by.

The Macedonian minority that lives on Greek territory is also the victim of the non-nationalization and assimilation policy of the Greek state. The Greek state has used all the means and capabilities (military, church, press, culture, institutions and associations etc.) under her own control appropriate to her purpose of improving the Hellenistic cause. She has changed names and surnames of Macedonian origin with Greek ones and banned the use of the Macedonian language and alphabet. With a law that has been specially prepared and went into force after being issued in the Greek Official Gazette, Macedonian names given to cities, villages, rivers, mountains etc. have been changed by which it has been aimed to eliminate everything of Macedonian origin.

During the years of civil war in Greece (1946-1949) the forces of the King announced the Greeks of Macedonian origin living in Northern Greece as Communist rebels and started a frightful genocide against them. Yet, these Macedonians, who were claimed to be rebels, had bravely fought against the Nazis during the German occupation. Nevertheless, in Aegean Macedonia 16 thousand people were killed, 440 women and girls were raped, 120 thousand people were tortured in concentration camps, hundreds of them losing their minds as a result of the torture, 1291 houses were set to fire, 80 villages were plundered, and thousands of them became displaced. Upon these events, the Macedonian people had to protect themselves from genocide and resorted to organized and armed resistance against the chauvinist policies of the Greek administration.

The Royal Greek forces, with the US and British air support, started to kill the Macedonians in masses. 30 thousand Macedonians, 28 thousand of which were children, had to find shelter in Eastern European countries (Albania, Bulgaria, East Germany, Yugoslavia, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union, Hungary, Czechoslovakia). Macedonian political refugees, who had to leave their homes for this reason, were later on not given the opportunity to return and settle in their home country or even visit their country. These people have become organized and have established "the Association of Refugee Children from Aegean Macedonia" by which they continue their struggle.

All this pressure has caused that part of the Macedonians have migrated overseas such as the USA, Canada and Australia while the Aegean Macedonians in and outside of Greece have clamped together and established unions so as to preserve and carry on their national presence. Within the Greek borders non-governmental organizations (NGO) have been established in the 1980’s but none of them have been legally recognized by the Greek administration. Some of these NGO’s are: The Macedonian Human Rights Central Organization Committee, the Human and National Rights Movement for Macedonians from Aegean Macedonia, the Macedonian Human Rights center. The purpose of these NGO’s is to oppose all kind of pressure that is being applied to the Macedonians in Greece and strive for the free use of Macedonian language that is their mother tongue in education, churches and all the areas of life. As a result of these initiatives the problems of the Macedonian minority in Greece has started to be recognized by the international community.

The Macedonian minority that remained in Greece is encountering various hindrances in terms of organizing themselves and their struggle of being present in politics. On September 6, 1995, a party was established entiteld "Vinojito-Rainbow" by the Macedonian minority. This party immediately received reactions, acts of violence were conducted upon the provacation of the mayor of Florina (Lerin) and the signboard with the name of the party had been pulled down.

In 1990, the Macedonian minority attempted to establish the "Macedonian Cultural Center (Macedonian Civilization House)" but failed to do so since the Regional Court in Florin (Lerin) took decision to have it closed down. Following the completion of the legal procedure in Greece there was no permission to have it opened. Hereupon the founders of this center took the issue to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The lawsuit was completed on June 10, 1998 and the European Court of Human Rights has sentenced Greece according to the 11^th article of the European Convention and according to the decisions taken in the CSCE Kopenhagen Meeting on Human Dimension. However, Greece still does not permit to open this center.

The report on the minorities in Greece prepared by the US Department of State states: "The Macedonian minority is still not being recognized by the Greek Government resulting with various acts of harassment and discrimination including restrictions on cultural expression, violations on the freedom of establishing associations, harassment of their political party called "Rainbow Party", restrictions on the entrance to Greece of ethnic Macedonians and former Greek citizens living abroad and issues of citizenship."

Throughout history, the Greek state has always denied Macedonia and the Macedonians, has not accepted their existence and been in an effort to eliminate them from her territory by means of assimilation. She has generated policies aiming at removing all the indications regarding Macedonian nationalism, patriotism and cultural values. These policies continue to be implemented in the way of deportation, so-called voluntary population changes, colonization, social and economic discrimination, obligatory deprivation from citizenship, and complete control of the political and intellectual life by means of the educational system.

On the other hand, Greece that has always claimed "Macedonian Great Alexander" as part of her history, has not recognized the name, constitution and flag - Vergina sun with sixteen beams on a red basis - of the new Republic of Macedonia that has become independent in 1991 following the dissolution of Yugoslavia. As a result of the economic embargo, Greece succeeded to have the flag and some articles of the Macedonian constitution be changed. Greece still does not recognize the official name of Macedonia.

Besides the Turks in Western Thrace and the Macedonians, Greece is also implementing unbelievable pressure on the Albanians so as to assimilate them. However all the Greeks known today as the New Greeks, who are in an effort to receive the sympathy and admiration of the world’s public opinion by claiming that their ancestors are the ancient Greeks, are in fact a mingle of Macedonians, Albanians, Ulahs and people of Anatolian origin.

The Albanian minority in Greece consists of the Orthodox Arvanites living in the regions of Attiki, Mora, Korinthos, Viotia, Fokiada, Hidra, Speces and Psara and the Muslim Chamerias that have lived in Yanya and the surrounding provinces in the West of Greece.

The Orthodox Arvanites that are of Albanian origin have also been the target of the fundamental assimilation policy of the Greek administration. They have been banned to use their mother tongue Albanian in society and Albanian geographical names have been changed with Greek names.

The situation of the Albanians that live in Chameria have become worse in 1936 when the Ioannis Metaxas Government came to power. In order to change the demographic structure, people from other regions have been brought to Chameria, the names of the places where Albanians live have been changed with Greek names and a policy of cruelty was implemented in the way of arrests, deportation, and seizure of property.

The genocide that aimed ethnic cleansing of the Chameria Albanians started on June 27, 1944. The EDES gangs led by General Napolyon ZERVAS killed 2900 young and old men, 214 women, 96 children; raped 745 women, kidnapped 76 women, slaughtered 32 children younger than 3 years old, destroyed and burnt down 5.800 houses and places of worship.

It is assessed that the number of Chameria Albanians that could not endure the pressure of Greece and fled away to other countries is 130 thousand. They have established the "Chameria Political Patriotic Association" with the aim to get back the property that was usurped by Greece.

The Chameria question was discussed in the 4^th general assembly meeting of the Non-Represented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) held in January 1995. In the 12^th decision the following aspects were emphasized:

- The return of the Chamerias to their country and giving back their rights of citizenship,

- Recognition of the right to give back the property of the Cham people,

-Recognition of rights that derive from international charters and documents; and thus having the Greek government accept the historical facts of the Chameria question and take serious steps for solution.

The Albanian People’s Assembly took a decision on June 30, 1994 by which it accepted and announced June 27 as the day for commemorating the Chameria genocide.

In the recent period, the issue of the "Chameria genocide" has been discussed on international platforms as well. The Chameria issue has been discussed in the US Senate on 20.08.2002 in a special session. The International Radical Party, having an advisory status in the UN have attempted to present the Chameria question to the European Union Parliament.

In the United Kingdom, a book entitled "The Cham Question" has been published by the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy together with the Center for Analyzing Disagreements.

The Ulah minority lives in the North of Greece on the Macedonian and Bulgarian border. Part of this minority speaks "Megleno-Romanian" and the other part speaks "Aromanian". It is estimated that the number of the Ulahs in Greece is around 250 - 300 thousand and this number is not mentioned in the official census.

The Ulahs had established their own states in the Middle Ages in Great Eflak (Tesallia and Southern Macedonia) and Small Eflak (Etlia-Akarnania and Southern Epir) in the 11^th and 12^th century. Later on they formed the foundation of the "Second Bulgarian Kingdom" and the "Ulah and Bulgarian Kingdom" and contributed to the administration of these states. This state became later part of "Great Eflak" In the 14^th century the Kingdom fell and became an autonomous region. The following 400 years the Ulahs have lived under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

The Ulah minority in Greece primarily lives in the mountains and plateaus of Greece and is engaged in shepherding of huge herds, agriculture and trade. The Ulahs of Greece live in and around the Pindus Mountains, Teselia, the western and northern parts of Aegean Macedonia, in and around Vermion Mountains and the Meglen region north of Thessaloniki.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, on May 22, 1905, the Ottoman Empire issued an imperial decree (ferman) by which the Ulahs were recognized as a separate community including them in the "people" system and permitting them to establish their own churches. To show their appreciation, the Ulahs have written a national anthem addressing Sultan Abdulhamid II, who has defined them as a "people", and this anthem still exists today.

However, this freedom did not last for long since the Greeks did not want to accept any ethnic origin of an Orthodox element living close to them. Therefore they attacked with their gangs the Ulahs and killed most of them, burnt their schools and suppressed by using armed violence their search for cultural identity.

After the Balkan wars, the Ulahs were spread around in Albania, Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria.

The Ulahs lived in comfort for a period when the Bucharest Agreement was reached between Greece and Romania, being a country that the Ulahs find close to them. Ulah schools were opened with the assistance of Romania and remained open until the end of World War II. However, the communist regime that took over power sacrificed the Ulah minority and cut off the mentioned assistance. The Ulah schools had to be closed down as a result of the Greek administration’s pressure that sometimes reached the level of physical violence. This policy of Greece targeting the Ulahs resulted with the assimilation of this community. During the dictatorship of Metaxas in 1936-1941, the policy of pressure of the Greek state towards the Ulahs and their language reached its peak.

During World War II, Greece was under Italian occupation and effort was spent to establish the "Princedom of Pindus" under the guidance of Italy, but as a result of the Italian defeat this initiative proved unsuccessful.

In the aftermath of the war, as a result of the initiatives towards independence, Greece increased her doubts and pressure towards the minority even more and maintained the procedure of assimilation more extensively and this process is still continuing.

The most significant example for the pressure against the Ulahs today can be given with the BLETSAS incident. Sotiris BLETSAS is an Ulah minority leader. He tried to distribute a map published by the European Bureau For Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) that has been supported by the European Union. This map shows "the lesser used languages in Europe". For this reason, Sotiris BLETSAS has been harassed by the police and sentenced to a penalty of 15 months imprisonment and 500.000 Drachmi.

Yet, in 1998 the European Council Committee for the Balkans put into force a document entitled "The European Charter of Regional and Minority Languages" that was also signed by Greece. This document stipulated protection of languages including the Ulah language. EBLUL foresees the protection and use of lesser used languages in Europe and is supported by the European Union; however this formation receives the reaction of EU member Greece.

Besides, as of 1996 the European Council has begun to discuss the Ulah question and has approved on June 24, 1997 with consensus the report prepared concerning the Ulahs.

While all these developments occurred some of the Ulahs who resisted to the assimilation migrated to Romania that they started to see as their home country while others migrated to Western countries such as Germany and France or overseas to the USA or Australia where they established the Ulah Diaspora. These people are in an effort to protect and maintain the existence of their identities and languages by means of formations that they have established such as the "Farsarotul Association" in the USA, the Ulah Language and Cultural Union led by Vasile BARBA in Freiburg/Germany, and the Cultural Union of the Ulahs in Macedonia.

Taking into consideration the concern that Greece shows to the Greeks and the other ethnic elements claimed by Greece to have come from the Hellenistic ancestry, that live abroad; while resisting to show the same concern to the ethnic elements on her own territory and even spending effort to assimilate them and make them Hellenistic; it is very difficult to decide what to say concerning the non-reactionary attitude of the human rights institutions and especially the EU, including Greece as its member.