Turkish FM accuses Greece over Muslim minority rights
Turkey’s foreign minister on Thursday accused Greece of not recognizing the Muslim minority in the country’s northeastern Thrace region as an “ethnic minority” and thus of violating an international treaty.
“Greece persistently continues to violate the Lausanne Treaty and basic human rights of the Turkish minority. Our brothers in Western Thrace were never and shall never be alone!” Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter, in both Turkish- and English-language tweets.
He tweeted the message after a meeting with what he described as the “Advisory Board of Turkish Minority of Western Thrace.”
His post was accompanied by a list of “violations” which he alleged Greece is committing against the Muslim minority in the region.
Hosted esteemed members of Advisory Board of Turkish Minority of Western Thrace in #Ankara.
#Greece persistently continues to violate the Lausanne Treaty and basic human rights of Turkish minority.
Our brothers in Western Thrace were never and shall never be alone! pic.twitter.com/ECsORb7U7J— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) December 8, 2022
Under the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, Greece recognizes the existence of a Muslim, but not an ethnic, minority in Thrace.
On Tuesday, Cavusoglu said Turkey could invade Greek islands if Greece does not “demilitarize” them.
